You Never Know
by roory
Summary: Mitchie, this sweet, talented girl is forced to upload a video of herself singing. Shane, this cocky, jerky popstar comes across it. A video, a response, a story to begin? AU - Rated T for possible language.
1. Just a Harmless Video

**A.N.: New story! I actually dreamt it - it was a pretty long dream - of course in my dream I wasn't seeing the Camp Rock characters, but they just seemed to fit. I've been playing with this story for a while in my head and I think it's time to actually get with it. I hope you guys like it and continue to read it.**

** Ok, now, just so guys don't get lost: Camp Rock never happened and Connect 3 and Mitchie have never crossed paths. **

**Disclaimer: Tell you what, the copyright to this characters will not be mine until told otherwise. :) **

**You Never Know **

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'Oh, yeah, Mitchie, we're just doing it for fun. Well, of course we won't post it! We wouldn't do anything you don't want us to do.' Yeah, right. That's what they all say. I should've known.

A piece of advice, anyone? When your two best friends try to talk you into making a video of yourself singing, 'just for fun', because oh, no, they would never try to post it in YouTube against your will- as a response to Connect 3's latest music video- no matter how hard it is, or how insistent they are, don't fall for it. Believe me, it'll save you the fight.

"No!!" I almost threw Sierra out of her chair as I tried to stop her from clicking 'Post a video response' "Please, Sierra." I begged, before Caitlyn threw herself at me and pinned me to the ground.

"Go, Sierra, go!"

"I'm sorry, Mitch, it's for your own good." With a wave of horror I watched as Sierra clicked the button, and seconds later my BlackBerry bipped as it received an email. I reached for it, but Caitlyn beat me to it.

"'Thank you for your video response to Connect 3's 'Play My Music' Official Music Video' YES!!" Caitlyn punched the air as a sign of triumph and I snatched the cellphone out of her hands to confirm the news.

"I hate you."

"We love you too, Mitchie!" Caitlyn said happily as she stood up to high-five Sierra.

"You know I'll never trust you again, right?"

"You can thank us later." Sierra giggled, and played the video again. I, as the mature girl I am, scoffed and stomped out of my room.

"I can't believe they did that." I muttered to myself, turning the kitchen T.V. on.

"We're basically looking for new sounds, maybe creating a duet or two for our next album." The oh-so-cute Shane Gray was saying. "I know whatever we do will turn out great." Oh-so-cute but also oh-so-big-headed Shane. I laughed as Nate- his bandmate- scolded him.

"We're making a new album!?" Clueless Jason asked.

"Dude, what do you think we were recording this morning?" Shane sighed, clearly irritated.

The interviewer laughed nervously and announced the 'Play My Music' video. I watched it for a while, admiring Jason's serious skills with his guitar, he seemed a whole other person when he was playing, then Nate caught my attention, always so concentrated and so into it, it was obvious he was really passionate about his work, and then, of course, Shane, always so sure about himself, every move he made, every word he sang...if that's not talent then I don't know what it is.

If I only was like any of them...

"Oh my God! Mitchie come here!" My eyes widened as I heard Sierra scream, I turned the T.V. off and rushed upstairs. What have they done now?

I oppened my door to find a grinning Caitlyn looking up at me. "You're getting feedback!" She squealed.

"F-f-feedback? From who?"

"Everyone!" Sierra said, rolling down to the video comments.

"'Wow, you're pretty awesome. LOVE the song.'" Caitlyn began reading.

"'OMG you have the coolest voice ever. Really, major cool.'"

"'Where can I find this song?' Oh my God Mitchie! They want to download your music, I told you they'd love you!"

"They...they like 'Who Will I Be'?" That's never happened before....except with Caitlyn, Sierra, and my parents. People actually liked me.

"Just read all the comments, Mitch."

"You've got 13...and the video has been up for like 10 minutes." I squeezed myself between Caitlyn and Sierra and continued reading the comments, completely shocked.

After a while of reading and receiving more comments, there was a honk outside.

"That's me." Sierra said, picking up her backpack.

"Could you give me a ride, Si?" Caitlyn said, collecting her stuff.

"Sure."

"I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." I said as I walked them to the door.

"Keep reading while we're gone!"

"Bye, Mitch!"

I waved goodbye and headed back to my room, still unable to believe the comments.

Okay, maybe I had exaggerated a bit about the video...people actually seemed to like it....and besides -as I'm just realizing- there is no way on Earth that Connect 3 would ever see that, I mean they are always busy, and when they're not I'm sure they don't spend their time watching silly fan videos. So yeah, I had freaked out at nothing.

"Honey, we're home!" My mom called from downstairs. I closed the YouTube window and put my computer to sleep, thinking I'd be doing the same after dinner.

About two hours later, after catching up with my mom and dad, taking a shower, and finishing homework, I decided it was time to call it a day and got into my bed.

I got under the covers and shifted until I felt really comfortable, I was just drifting off when my BlackBerry bipped again. I groaned inwardly and reached blindly for it, not really focusing on the message. 'You've got a new review, bla, bla, bla...'

"_Hey, what's up! Really cool song you have there, can't decide which is better: your voice or the song. Anyway, we'd be really happy to hear from you, maybe we could work on something together? Lets us know! - Jason, Nate, and Shane."_

Oh. Maybe I had fallen asleep...already dreaming...

My cellphone vibrated under me, waking me up.

"Oh my gosh, Michelle." Sierra squealed.

"Do you realize Connect 3 just commented on your video?" Caitlyn asked, before joining Sierra in her squealing.

I didn't say anything, I made my computer come to life and logged into YouTube. Under what seemed like hundreds of 'They favorited you!', 'You're so lucky!', and 'OMG, they commented on your video.' comments was, indeed, a message under the username of 'OfficialConnect3'.

"This can not be real."

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**A.N.: I love feedback of any kind. I hope you liked it and that you will keep reading! Thanks! **

**Review ! **


	2. It boils!

**Enjoy!**

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Next day I found myself on a typical day at school. The bell had just rung and I was on my way to meet Sierra and Caitlyn, ready to go home. But then something tha had never happened before, happened.

"OMG, aren't you the girl who's all over YouTube right now?" Queen and boss of Waldron Academy, Tess Tyler, stopped me by the arm. Next to her was her boyfriend, Trace -insert dreamy sigh here- who looked as shocked as Tess did.

"The video you showed me a while ago?" He asked, staring at me. I stuppidly stared back, hoping against hope I wouldn't just start drooling.

"Yeah..." Tess said as she let go of my arm, folding hers across her chest. "Aren't you her?"

"I...uhh..." Right, Mitchie, you go ahead and act smart.

"Connect 3 faved you." She accused.

"Uh..." Gather yourself up, Mitchie. "Oh yeah. I know, I know." I said, breaking into a nervous grin.

"Do you attend this school?" And my grin disappeared. So you spend your freshmen, sophomore, and half junior years developing this huge crush on this great guy, just to find -three years later- he doesn't even know you exist.

"_Yeah_." I answered coldly.

"Are you a new transfer?" Tess asked.

"No! I've been here since High School _started_."

"Oh, really?" Tess said as she eyed my clothes up and down. "Well that doesn't matter. You should thank Connect 3 for the good deed, BTW, at least now we know about you." She grabbed Trace's arm and stalked away. Trace looked back for a moment at me, raised his eyebrows, and looked away.

"Mitchie, was that Trace Deluca talking to you?" Sierra asked as she and Caitlyn approached me. "Wow, you're on a roll Mitchie."

"Yeah, whatever." I said as I blinked the sting in my eyes away. "Let's go girls. I gotta go talk to Connect 3."

* * *

I'm not gonna lie. I was hesitant about replying to Connect 3 at first. It was the only thing I had been able to think about at school. And when the bell rang I was almost sure I was going to ignore it and forget about the whole thing. But it was enough. I've really had enough of being no one. And I'm not letting this chance slip away.

"Mitchie just type a freakin' response." Caitlyn said from the chair next to me. We had been seating in front of my computer fro nearly an hour now, but no sentence I came up with sounded good enough for Connect 3.

"Just say thanks, Mitchie." Sierra said, working on some of her homework. "And that it's great they are considering you to work with."

"Okay, yes." I said, placing my shaky hands on the keyboard again. "I can do this." Deep breath, and type. "Hi guys! Thank you so much for taking the time to watch my video. I still can't believe you actually like it. And it would be a GREAT honor to do something with you guys (If the offer is still up.). I would love to hear back from you. Thanks again, Mitchie Torres." I read out loud as I typed.

"That's good." Sierra said as she closed her books. "Not too desperate not too I-don't-care. Good Mitchie. Now send."

"I don't know you guys..."

"For the love of God, Mitchie!" Caitlyn, completely exasperated, snatched the mouse and clicked send. "Not that hard." She smiled at me.

We stayed in silence for a while, staring at the computer and my cellphone next to it.

"Maybe we should go watch some TV." Sierra suggested.

"Yeah, you know, "A watched pot never boils" and all that crap." Caitlyn said as she got up.

"Fine." I said. Pot may never boil anyway, might as well watch some TV while it doesn't.

"So," Caitlyn said as we walked downstairs. "What was that Tess/Trace conversation about? 'Cause you seemed kind of m..." The three of us suddenly froze on the middle of the stairway.

"Did you hear that bip?" Sierra asked as she pointed back to my room. My eyes widened, realizing it hadn't been my imagination.

We broke into a run back upstairs, stumbling and hitting each other. As I entered my room I stepped into Sierra's bag, lost my balance and fell flat on my face. Caitlyn got tangled up with my feet and crashed on top of me, with Sierra following soon after.

"Ow." I complained as they tried to get up. I looked at my desk, the shinning red light on my BlackBerry called me. I quickly crawled to my desk to reach for my cellphone, making my friends fall back to the floor.

"Ouch!"

"That is going to leave some permanent damage on my butt." Caitlyn said as she finally got up and walked to me. "What is it Mitch?" She asked when she saw the look on my face.

"Are we anywhere near the Los Angeles area?" I asked her.

"Mitchie, we _live _in Los Angeles."

"Then I guess that answers their question."

"What do you mean?"

"_'Hey, we thought we were being rejected for a moment there! Of course the offer is still open, Mitchie, and we cant wait to get with it. But we really can't keep communicating by YouTube's personal messages! Have a phone number? Are you anywhere near Los Angeles? We promise your information is safe with us. We really can't wait to meet you. Message us back soon, please! - Nate, Jason and Shane.'_" I read the message to them.

Silence fell upon us again. I knew my friends could not believe it. And who am I kidding, in five minutes I'm gonna have to ask Caitlyn to pinch me. And God, was I scared that pinch wouldn't hurt.

"Hey girls!" My mom walked into my room, making the three of us jump. "What's up?"

"Connect 3." We said in unison.

"You girls have some weird obsession with those guys, I can't imagine what would happen if you got to meet them."

"Neither can we." Caitlyn and Sierra said, still shocked.

"Seriously girls, this is turning a bit scary." My mom said as her eyes traveled fast through each of our faces. "What is going on?"

"Connect 3 wants to meet me." The second that sentence left my mouth my mom began laughing. Really, my mother was making fun of me.

"Okay, that's enough computer for you today." She took my hand and dragged me to the door. "Come help with dinner."

I stoped where I was and I re-read the messages for my mom, including the one I had received last night. She stood in shock, gaping at me.

Chuckling, I saw Caitlyn's hand reaching over to my mom's arm, and then, "Ouch, Caitlyn! What was that for?"

"Sorry, Connie, you looked like you could use a pinch."

My mom frowned lightly and looked at Sierra, who was still seating on the floor. "Come on, Sierra, you're the sane one here," Hey! "Is this true?"

"Why do you think we're all shocked and crazy looking right now?" Sierra answered.

She took a minute to register her answer, and then, unexpectedly (not really, she was the biggest child I know), squealed.

"Well what are we waiting for! Let's contact those boys!"

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**A.N.: Thanks so much for the reviews I got last chapter! You guys are great! Thanks for putting me on alerts and faving and stuff! Next chapter the boys finally come in. pum-pum-pum (that was my attempt to a dramatic effect). Keep reading guys! hope you liked it. **

**Reviews please! **


	3. Turning Out Wrong

**Enjoy :)**

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Amazing. That would be the word to describe Sunset Records.

I was currently waiting for Connect 3 at the Sunset Records conference room, marveling over their fantastic collection of Gibson Les Pauls.

Like I said: amazing.

"I want to see their recording studio!" Forgot to mention, it turned out I was allowed to bring a friend with me, and since Sierra had Mandarin classes and Caitlyn was the music addict, the last one was the one drumming her fingers anxiously on the table. "You think they're divas?" She asked, glancing at the clock.

"I don't think so..." I answered, nervously playing with my good luck charm, a necklace I had once won at a carnival. "Divas don't go around contacting people they met on YouTube..."

"Yeah, they don't." Someone said from the door. My head snapped around in the direction of the voice, just to find Nate freaking Black walking into the room. "I hope we didn't make you wait too long." He said politely as he extended his hand for me to shake. I took it and breathed a 'Hi', too nervous to formulate audible words.

"That's Mitchie's way of saying 'Not at all'." Caitlyn stepped in to save me, shaking Nate's hand. "Caitlyn Geller, future music producer."

"Nate Black..." He answered. "Current music producer...and musician."

They both broke into a grin, and I was not very sure if they realized they were still shaking hands.

"Shane she's here!" Jason exclaimed happily as he came into the room. He peeked his head quickly out the door, and then looked back at me, holding his arms up for me. "Hi!"

"Hi..." I answered faintly as his arms grapped for a moment around me. I had just touched two thirds of Connect 3. I was really becoming weak at the knees. "It's so nice to meet you."

"You too!" He answered sweetly. I instantly knew what his role was in the band. He was nowhere near dumb, or even not smart, he was just incredibly sweet. "I like your Humming Bird, by the way."

Jason, guitar expert, just complimented my guitar. Wow.

"I didn't even use it on the video." I said, a little confused. "How did you know...?"

"I saw it on the back. That Humming Bird was one of my first guitars, and kind of my favorite...I could recognize it anywhere!"

Something made me look back at the door then, and my eyes locked with a pair of caramel ones, lightly blocked by jet black hair. I found myself being unable to look away, a smile spreading slowly across my features. And I could tell, by the wrinkles on the edge of his eyes, I could tell Shane Gray was smiling back.

"Shane, what took you so long?" Nate questioned. "Dude, you were the impatient one to meet her..."

"I'm here now, Nate, okay?" He broke our eye contact to glare at Nate, every trace of a smile disappearing from his face. "And I was not impatient..." He muttered, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"Please take a seat, ladies." Nate took out a chair for Caitlyn while he threw a look at Shane, not happy with his rudeness.

The chair next to me was pulled out by Jason; he offered it to me with a smile.

"Thanks Jason." I smiled back as he sat next to me.

"So, Mitchie, was that song completely original?" Nate asked once everyone was settled.

"Yeah, well, Caitlyn helped a lot with the music, but the lyrics are mine."

"She's being modest." Caitlyn shook her head, rolling her eyes at me. "I just did some little things on my computer, but she wrote it all herself."

"I love your song, Mitchie!"

"Aww thanks Jase!" Jase? So I was now on Jase-terms with him? To be honest, it didn't feel that weird.

"He has it as his ringtone." Nate laughed, taking out his cellphone and pressing a button. Seconds later "Who Will I Be" blasted of Jason's phone. Which he answered.

"Hello?"

"Dude, it's me." Nate rolled his eyes.

"Who?"

"Nathan, Jason."

"I'm sorry but I don't know any Nathan Jason."

Caitlyn let out a small snort while I giggled, watching Nate's face growing increasingly red with frustration.

"I'm sorry but the only persons in this room with me right now are Nate, Shane, Mitchie, and her friend Katie."

"It's _Caitlyn_."

"Okay, you lost me. Is this Nathan Jason or Caitlyn?"

My head turned in Shane's direction when I heard a small thud. He was banging his head lightly with the edge of the table. Once again, I found myself smling adoringly. Which is weird. You will only catch me smiling adoringly at musical intruments...or Trace Deluca...

But oh well, I decided to put an end to his agony.

"I'm really sorry Nathan Jason," I laughed as I grabbed Jason's cellphone off his hand, "But Jason has to go right now, he'll call you back. Bye!"

Shane's head snapped back up as I placed Jason's phone on the table. He smiled.

"Wow, can you believe this weirdos who spend their time calling people?" Jason asked incredously.

"Jason it was..." Nate began, but Caitlyn cut him off.

"So, if it's not too much to ask..." Please don't ask them to show you their studio, please don't ask them to show you their studio... "Which of you guys decided to contact Mitchie?" Okay. That's kind of worse.

"Shane." Nate answered quickly.

"Yeah!" Jason continued. "He found your video while we were taking a break from an interview and he said you were so beautiful, next thing we knew he was messaging you."

"It wasn't like that..." Shane started.

"You should've seen him..." Nate sighed. "He was impossible while he waited for you to answer his message. You see, his used to getting what he wants..."

"He went as chessy as saying you had 'an angel's voice'. Which made you better."

"Which made him want you more."

"So he practically sticked to his cellphone for one day waiting for your reply..."

"Stop that now!" Shane snapped. "I didn't do any of that, okay? I can't recall saying you had an angel's voice, more like a cool voice, and I don't think you're so beautiful...barely pretty...and most of all, I. Do not. Want. You."

So, just if you're curious, being dissed by Shane Gray is, indeed, worse than being dissed by Trace Deluca.

I shoun't have come here.

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**A.N.: chapter 3 :) Shane is a big jerk, I know. But oh well, that's that. **

**Review please!!**


	4. Retorts, glares, and doorbells

** Have fun :)**

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Shane's glare bore into mine as he stood up, his breath ragged and angry.

"Shane!" Jason said indignantly, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Apologize." Nate ordered as he also stood up.

"What for?" Shane retorted, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

"You will apologize. And you will apologize now."

"I don't feel like it."

A hand slammed angrily against the table. Caitlyn was now standing up too, death glare firmly placed on her eyes.

"Okay, listen up you jerk..." Shane raised his eyebrows at Caitlyn as she said this, folding his arms across his chest.

"Caitlyn let it go." I said. The last thing I wanted was to cause more trouble here.

"But Mitch, he..."

"Let it go." I repeated. She opened her mouth, looking at Shane, but then looked back at me, finally giving in and settling in her chair with a huff. "I don't know who do you think you are," I addressed Shane, "or what gives you the right to talk to me like that, but if you don't wanna apologize that's fine. I don't expect any more from people like you. Now please let's move on." I might give him Tess's number...they look like the kind of people who would get along...

I looked at Caitlyn and she threw me the proud smile she always did when I stood up for myself, and I smiled back.

A few moments passed as I waited to hear them regaining their seats, refusing to glance at Shane. And apparently he was refusing to look at me too, because seconds later the door slammed closed, Shane gone from the room.

"So, when you said you weren't divas, you weren't talking for the whole band, were you?" Caitlyn asked Nate, half laughing.

"Oh yes I was. Shane is not a diva." Nate answered, shaking his head. I suddenly felt sympathy for him and Jason, their faces gave away how tired they were of this. "He is so past that point."

"I'm sorry I made him angry." I couldn't help but feel guilty, after all, he had seemed to be in a perfectly good mood when he arrived.

"Mitchie don't worry about it; I should be the one apologizing. We didn't ask you to come here to be insulted."

"Oh, please, don't. It's okay." Maybe not completely okay...but just...okay. "Besides, I came here to talk about music, which is what we should do right now." I threw them my best smile and then the four of us launched into a great conversation, but half my brain stayed out the door, chasing Shane wherever he was.

* * * * *

"And then Mitchie went all "Oh no, you did not." on him and he just flew out of the room!" Caitlyn was telling our adventure -again- that night at dinner. Sierra gasped as she helped herself into more smashed potatoes, looking as mad as Caitlyn had this afternoon.

"Well done Mitchie! You show him what you're made of." My mom nodded to Sierra's words.

"Oh you guys don't think I was too harsh, do you?"

"Too harsh?" My dad asked, throwing the fork into his plate with a little more force than what was needed. "Mitchie that boy said you aren't _beautiful_. Either he is blind or he is a very unpolite boy."

"What you're dad means, Mitchie -and by the way Sir I will have to agree- is that Shane is a complete ass."

"Caitlyn!" Sierra and my mom scolded her, to which Caitlyn just shrugged her shoulders while my dad and I laughed.

"I don't think he is an..." My mom gave me a look as I was to repeat Caitlyn's choice of words; I decided to refrase. "...an unpolite boy...I just think fame has got the best of him."

"Mitchie are you actually defending him?" Mom asked, mouth agape.

"I'm not _defending_ him, just sayin', you know. He seemed like a nice guy before..."

"Yeah, before he opened that big mouth of his."

"You know what guys? Let's talk about something else."

"Well, what were Nate and Jason like?" I was hoping a little bit more of a change, Sierra...

"Ah, well they seem really cool. Really laid back. They treated us real good."

"More like Nate treated Caitlyn real good..." I muttered against my glass of water, making all heads snap in my direction. Caitlyn glared at me. "Oops."

"Oh my God!" Sierra squealed. "Nate Black likes you!"

"What? He does not like me!"

"No he doesn't." I said seriously, but then mouthed to Sierra: 'He does'. Sierra winked in comprehension.

"Hey! I saw that, missies."

"We wouldn't have to do it if you admitted you kind of like him too!"

"Ah...I...we...no..."

"Yes?" Sierra pressed.

"He is freakin' Nate Black for crying out loud! The whole world likes him."

"All right, girls enough." My mom cut me off before I could respond. "Help clean the table up."

"You sooo like him." I whispered to Caitlyn as I passed her on my way to the kitchen.

"At least I don't like the big jerk." What the heck was that supposed to mean?

"I so do not like Shane!"

"The fact that you know exactly who I'm talking about tells me you do."

I huffed and just as I was about to retort I was cut off again, this time by the doorbell. I narrowed my eyes at Caitlyn before storming off.

"That's right, you go get the door..." She called after me.

I opened the door of my house to find the last person I'd been expecting.

"You."

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**A.N.: You'll never guess who that is ññ a special shotout to the one who gets it right, plus a virtual high five :P I had fun with this chapter and I feel like going on so I guess I will write the next chapter right now :) will update soon. hope you guys liked it! **

**Reviews highly recommended to ensure a good next chapter. ;) **


	5. Who's the dream boy?

**A.N.: Thanks for the reviews everyone! You're all the best! Sooooooo.....the person at Mitchie's door was.............**

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"Trace." I patheticaly mumbled to the golden haired boy at my door. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

"Hi, Mitchie." He said, shooting me a smile. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything..."

"No, you're not...I'm just surprised to see you here." I laughed. "I mean two days ago you didn't even know who I was, and now you're at my house, it's really..."

"Senseless?"

"Uh...yeah."

"No, Mitchie, what's senseless is how you won't leave my head." What??

"Excuse me?" I stepped out of the doorframe to close the door behind me. Now, this was really something that couldn't be true.

"Ever since I talked to you on Thursday I haven't done anything but replay your video."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I broke up with Tess." He stated, shaking his head.

"Trace is this a joke?" I looked into his deep blue eyes, trying to find a hint of a lie there.

"Mitchie, I like you." But his eyes seemed perfectly sincere. Oh, God... "And I was wondering...you know, if you'd like to go on a date with me next Friday?"

"A date? With you? As in you and me?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay." What a great response to the most popular boy in school asking you out, Mitchie. Really, you're brilliant.

"Okay?" He asked with a smile. I nodded. "Great! Then I'll guess I'll see you at school Monday."

"Umm...not really. I actually have some stuff to do next week, but I'll see you on Friday."

"Oh, fine." He grabbed my hand for a second and pressed his lips to the top of it. "Friday. Be ready at eight." He winked and turned around, walking away to his shinny red car.

I leaned backwards, ready to be catched by the door, but instead was catched by two pairs of hands as they swung the door open.

"I have a date with Trace Deluca." I sighed, the door being shut closed my Sierra.

"You WHAT?"

"I know, it's unbelievable." I shaked their shocked looks off and headed upstairs, knowing I was being followed.

"Michelle?" Caitlyn asked as we entered my room, grabbing a hold on my shoulders. "Why are you not freaking out?" Honestly, no idea.

"I will have to ask the same, Mitchie. Your dream boy just asked you out."

I shrugged Caitlyn's hands off and went to seat on my bed, strumming my guitar softly.

"Or is it that Trace suddenly ceased being your dream boy?" Caitlyn asked, suspicion in her voice.

"What? No! Trace is Trace and he is...Trace and...I'm Mitchie."

"Oh, but also, Shane is Shane."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Caitlyn."

"Mitchie you met the guy for like five minutes!"

"Exactly Sierra! And I didn't even talk to him...there's no way I could like Shane!" This me liking Shane thing was really getting into my nerves. Because I don't. "Maybe Trace's charm disappeared a bit when I confirmed he did not know I existed."

"And then he's suddenly here asking you out?" Caitlyn wondered aloud as she searched for her pajamas in her bag. "What about Tess?"

"Dunno." I placed my guitar on its stand, sighing heavily. "He said he broke up with her."

"Uh-oh." Both Sierra and Caitlyn said.

"You'll have to watch your back from now on." Sierra warned.

"Thank God I won't be seeing her next week!" I smiled at the calendar on the wall, the upcoming week all marked with meetings with Connect 3. "Maybe the hurt of being dumped will wear off by then..."

"Don't count on it." Caitlyn said, walking out of my room to change her clothes.

"So..." Crap. "You'll be seeing Shane next week, then?"

"I guess. If he feels like showing up."

"Huh." Sierra studied my expression carefully. Damn her; sometimes I can hate how well she knows me. "Maybe I do agree a bit with you. About Shane not being a jerk, I mean."

"Yeah well, if he is or if he is not that's really not my bussiness. I should just stick to being happy for this chance they gave me, and my date with Trace, and just don't let it bother me."

"Cause right now it _is_ bothering you." Fine. It is.

"And I just don't know why, Sierra."

"Maybe it's just how you like to see the best in every person. And Shane's not letting you see the best in him."

"Maybe." I contemplated the idea. It could be. Possibly. "But it's still not normal. I mean it doesn't bother me with Tess, or with any of her friends. And with Shane..."

"Shane practically yelled at you. That's the difference; Tess and her gang barely notice us, there's not much we can complain about there, and you're just worried because you'll have to work with him all of next week. That's a lot to endure."

"Yeah, you're right. It's not about _Shane_." It's not. "It's about the hard time I'm guessing he will give me."

"Excatly."

We both turned to our own stuff after that, and when Caitlyn came back she settled on my computer and started working on some of my other songs, Sierra worked on her Mandarin homework, and I tried to keep my promise to Nate and Jason and work in lyrics for a song.

_"Sometimes I'm afraid to show the world what I've got to say...but I have a dream..." _I read the lyrics on my notebook. I had to stop being afraid.

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**A.N.: High five to... Crazy Awesome Writer, BruisedAndBattered, and BlondeBrodway28 :D Buuuut...I feel like giving more high fives so high five to everyone who reviewed! By the way, I know you expected this chapter maybe a little bit sooner but, okay, ten minutes after I uploaded the last chapter I'm seating at my desk writing this one, and then, my worst enemy, writer's block. And the block lasted a couple of days..and then I had rehearsals and stuff...and then when I finally had time to finish Document Manager decided to crash! So I'm sorry if this chapter is not so good but I promise the next ones are gonna be _good_. So, be ready for it ;) **

**Thank you for reading! **

**Review please!!**


	6. A Date and Some Pancakes

**Read. Like. Review. :) **

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Friday morning, the clock marked 9:20. Shane would be here any minute now.

After five days of visiting the Sunset Records it still made me nervous to watch him walk through those doors every morning.

Would he finally snap at me again? Would he apologize? Would he even talk to me?

The questions that went through my head every morning, even though he hadn't talked to me yet, not on Monday or Tuesday, not on Wednesday, and not yesterday. Not a word. Every morning he came into the conference room and jerked his head in a greet, then sat on his chair and scribbled furiously on his notebook, ocassionally stopping to play some cords on his guitar.

Not that I had been paying attetion. Because I haven't. Because I don't care...I just happened to notice...

"You know I'll be here, I know you're real?" Nate broke me out of my trance, showing me the progress on my notebook.

What have we been doing this five days, you ask.

Well, we have been trying to write the perfect song for their album; I know five days is a lot to write just one song, but they said (they meaning Nate and Jason) we had a lot of time and that we should take it slowly, and probably the song would turn out better.

But we've been stuck in the same part of the song for two days now.

"I don't know Nate...it still doesn't feel like it fits."

You wanna know about the song? Well, it goes something like this:

I've always been the kind of girl  
Who hidden my face  
So afraid to tell the world  
What I've got to say

But I have this dream  
Bright in side of me  
I'm gonna let it show  
It's time to let you know  
To let you know

This is real  
This is me  
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now  
Gonna let the light  
Shine on me

Now I've found who I am  
There's no way to hold it in  
No more hidding who I wanna be  
This is me

Do you know what it's like  
To feel so in the dark?  
To dream about a life  
Where you're the shinning star  
Even though it seems  
Like it's too far away

I have to believe in myself  
It's the only way

This is real  
This is me  
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now  
Gonna let the light  
Shine on me  
Now I've found who I am  
There's no way to hold it in  
No more hidding who I wanna be  
This is me

And then the page goes black with pencil and pen and liquid paper all over each other, all the mess made in our attempt to finish the song. Well, yeah, as you can see the song is practically about me, and yeah I wrote the majority of it, but it still was the song that was going to be in _their_ record, and neither of us had been able to come up with something good enough for the end.

"This is frustrating." Nate complained as he scratched another line.

"I'm sorry Nate." I let my head fall to the table. "I just want this to be great..."

"Yeah, I know. Trust me, I get it." He rested back into the chair, bitting his lip. He looked hesitantly at me for a couple of minutes, then he finally said what I knew he was dying to ask. "Mitchie...what did Caitlyn say?"

I propped my head up in my hand and threw him an are-you-kidding look.

"C'mon Nate...who on Earth would say no? Any girl would die to go."

"Caitlyn's not any girl..." The man had a point.

"Well, she may not be any girl...but she still said yes."

Nate knocked the chair to the floor as he stood up excitedly, his smile contagious.

"I have a date with Caitlyn??"

"You have a date with Caitlyn." I confirmed.

He punched the air and gave a spin on the spot, making me laugh. I was sure that date will go pretty great.

"Hiya guuuuuuuuys!" Jason burst into the room, carrying two guitar cases and a big IHOP bag. Behind him a very sleepy Shane dragged his way into the room.

"Morning." He grumbled, before falling into the nearest chair, resting his head on the table.

"Well, hello, sunshine." Nate teased him.

"Shut up." Shane answered.

"He's grumpy this morning." Jason explained the obvious as he placed the guitars against the wall.

"I wouldn't be grumpy if certain someone hadn't woke me up at 6:30 in the morning and dragged me to that stupid pancake house."

"To have a delicious breakfast!" Jason defended.

"And then somehow get lost in the city you've known for 3 years!"

"I thought the bird was guiding us!"

I laughed softly as I watched them fight...they just had to be the coolest gang on planet Earth.

Then I noticed Shane's head snap to look at me, and I was scared of the yelling that was to come. But instead of even glaring at me, the corners of his mouth twitched a quarter of an inch up, and I almost thought I saw him rolling his eyes with humor.

"Oh, by the way Mitchie, here." Jason placed the bag in front of me. "Shane bought you breakfast."

My hands flew to the bag and openned it a bit, revealing indeed a content full of very welcomed food. My shocked eyes traveled to look at Shane.

"It must be cold by now..." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Thanks..." I whispered, a smile playing across my features as I took everything out.

"What about me man?" Nate asked, apparently even more shocked than I was.

"What about you?" Shane wondered, watching me take a sip of my chocolate milk.

"Don't I get food?"

Shane looked at him, thinking about it. "Nah."

Nate glared at him for a moment before reaching for his guitar, a mix of a frown -surely for the lack of food- and a smile -Caitlyn- on his face.

I watched as Shane took his notebook out of his guitar case and seated on his chair, routine-like.

Only this time a smile rested calmly on his lips.

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**A.N.: I was going to post this last night but my mom went all "Go to sleep now." on me. So I woke up earlier for you guys :)**

**I have a problem...I'm like really anxious to write/upload the next couple of chapters but the trouble is...I'm leaving for 24 days. I'm attending Camp Rock. (lol, I wish.) No but seriously I won't have access to my pretty fanfic account until I get home :( soo I will try really hard to upload a chapter (or if I have extra time/inspiration two) before I leave. I'm really sorry if I'll keep you waiting. But when I get back I'll totally focus and write lots.**

**Anyway I'm just saying so you won't get all "she's not updating" and give up on me and my story. I reaaaally hope you will wait for me!**

**Okay so I think I'm babbling which means I better stop writing.**

**I hope you liked this chapter and that you'll donate some pretty reviews (:**

**reviews are a big part of my inspiration so...review pleasee! :)**

**P.S. next chapter = friday night , friday night = date with Trace , date with Trace = who knoowwws? ;) **


	7. Under the Fountain Water

**A.N.: After a whole month of traveling I'm back! Yay :) You have no idea how much I missed fanfiction! And I even tried updating from different hotels but fanfiction -for some reason my mind is not fully capable of understanding- was blocked! Who would _block_ fanfiction?? And then I tried updating from an iPod but apparently the weight of the page was too much for the stupid little thing...but now I'm back :D **

**Thank you for wishing me fun on my trip! I enjoyed it as you have no idea...Europe is simply amazing. I particularly loved Venice, London, Paris, and Rome. Beautiful places they are. Do I have any readers from there? **

**Or the question would be: Do I have any readers left...at all? **

**I sincerely hope I do...cause believe me I really tried to update and I really thought about my fanfic on my trip...I hope you're all stil there...**

**But now leaving my babbling aside, let's get on with Mitchie and Trace's date...have fun! **

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I always wished I had a fountain at my house. I think they're so magical, the water pouring out the top until the bottom, then going up again to restart the cycle. Yeah, I find fountains magical. Don't laugh at me.

The one I was staring at right now was kind of gigantic...it almost looked like a pool...or a pond, because it was filled with waterlilys and some floating candles . And me being me, alll I wanted to do right now was dip my fingers into the clear water, pick a flower up, just to feel the tiny droplets run down my arm.

"Mitchie c'mon." His hand grapped around the back of my neck, leading the way to the table. I couldn't help but make a face. I can't stand it when people grab me by the neck. "You like the place?" Trace asked the moment we had taken our seats.

"It's fancy." I answered, placing my napkin over my lap. It was the kind of place where you'd hear a celebrity had last been seen in. The kind of place I would've never picked if I was on my own.

Trace smiled as if I had just said the biggest compliment in the world. He took a bread out of the basket that was in the middle of the table and took a bite, before saying,

"I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I was about tonight."

"Really?" Trace Deluca...nervous about dating me...Mitchie Torres. I had to giggle at that.

"Really." He chewed on his bread, staring at me. "Where were you all this week? I missed you."

"Oh, c'mon, Trace, leave the lies out." I said with a reproachful smile. "We never had any kind of contact at school, and this week was no different, I don't see how you could've _missed_ me."

"Mitchie, I did!" He raised his eyebrows in disbelief, both of us laughing. "You have no idea what it was to have Tess's angry eyes on your back the whole time. They kept reminding me how bad I wanted to see _your_ eyes." He reached his hand to lift my chin, staring at my eyes. I stared back at his, feeling uneasy for some reason, watched.

"What the heck are you doing here with him!?" My head snapped away at hearing his voice, he sounded angrier than ever. So, I was being watched, and not by anyone, oh, no sir, I was being watched by Shane Gray.

"Shane," My voice quivered, my hands sweating the slightest. "What are you doing here?"

"I think I asked that first." He said, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Trace. "What is this thing?"

"Shane!"

"What? Oh, it's not okay if I call him a thing?" I shaked my head sacrastically. "I'm sorry, my bad...let me refrase: Who is this respectful piece of scumb?" Shane retorted, now staring at me. My eyes kept his, anger spreading slowly and steadily through me.

"Leave. Now."

"You don't tell me what to do, Mitchie. And in any case you are the one leaving." He pulled my chair away from the table. "Come on, let's go."

Trace rose from his chair the moment Shane grabbed my arm, throwing his napkin to the table. Shane turned to look at Trace, daring him to do something. I couldn't help but notice how Shane seemed to tower over him, though Trace was taller. I was suddenly worried for Trace.

"Shane, please." I tried, using every ounce of self control I had in me. "Shane we'll talk later." His grip on my arm grew loose, but he was still staring hardly at my date. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said in a lower voice, so only he could hear. "Nate invited me to the apartment. We'll talk tomorrow morning." His hand fell to his side, he began walking away, his eyes still on us. He stopped for moment, to stare at me. My eyes bore into his once again, my heart feeling heavy at the unrecognized feeling in them. Shane lifted his hand in goodbye and walked away.

I sighed as I dropped myself to my chair. Trace did the same, watching me cautiously.

"I'm sorry about that. He's very possessive of anything he has ever laid eyes on."

"Don't worry about it. I don't like to stress over jerks."

"Shane is not a jerk! He's just really-"

"Mitchie. Let's talk about something else."

Fine. But I still think Shane is not a jerk.

I looked around for a new conversation topic, my eyes landing on Trace's shirt.

"Cool shirt." The moment those words left my mouth I regretted it. I soon remembered Shane had the exact same shirt, and he had been wearing it this morning.

"Thank you, and I like your necklace." He said pointing to my good luck charm.

"Oh, thanks." I only wear my good luck charm in special ocassions. Last time I had worn it was the day I met Shane. Okay, who am I kidding? Last time I had worn it was this morning, and every morning before that. I didn't know why, but every morning, as I stood in front of my mirror to pick my outfit, I contemplated if I should wear it that day, and, as Shane's face came into my mind, the answer was a definite yes. Maybe it was the fact that he was a celebrity and that made me nervous...though not Jason nor Nate did...

"Mitchie..._Mitchie_..."

"What? What?"

"The waitress was asking what would you like to drink." I sudddenly spotted the waitress staring impatiently at me. How long had I spaced out?

"Ice tea, please." I mumbled.

"I'll be right back." She said with a fake smile.

The rest of our dinner was uneventful. We shared a good chat and some laughs, well, at least when I didn't get all distracted and my eyes wandered around the reastaurat, searching for a specific someone. Who, by the way, I never really found. Maybe he had left. Like I had asked him to. Or maybe he was hiding under a table, or behind a tree...

"Mitchie you're doing it again." Trace alerted me, stopping right in front of the beautiful fountain. I looked at him apologetically. Lame, Mitchie. You finally get a date with the boy you like and you can't even concentrate on it. Lame.

"I'm sorry, Trace. I didn't mean to be so off tonight." I said as he walked closer to me, making me walk backwards until my legs bumped into the fountain, and he placed himself only inches away from me.

"Don't even mention it...you will have the time to redeem yourself in our next date."

"Next...date...?"

He nodded his head, inching closer. My eyes dropped close as he placed his hands slowly on my shoulders...it all happened so fast then...

I heard someone say my name loudly and another pair of hands grab my arms from behind, I openned my eyes in time to see Trace's laughing face as he pushed me, and the hands pulled me, I made a move to try and stay balanced, grasping on someone's arm. I catched a glimpse of shinny blonde hair before finally falling into the water, bringing the owner of the arm with me.

I didn't want to come up. From the water, that is. I just didn't. My eyes stung painfully, and I was sure it was not the water what was causing it.

But just when I had decided I was going to stay there, under the fountain's water, for the rest of my life, a hand grabbed my arm strongly, and pulled me up.

I gasped as my lungs registered the lack of air, breathing the cold night air. My ears suddenly catched the sound of laughing jerks, and my eyes moved to find Tess and Trace trying to hold each other and their uncontrollable laughter.

Then my eyes moved to find the person that was holding me...

Of course, with my luck, that person happened to be a soaking wet Shane.

And he was shaking with anger.

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**A.N.: It's so hard to write a date between the heroin of your story and a character you hate. But...I think it turned out well...what do you think? Good or bad? Please, please, say something to this chapter, write a dot if you want, I just want to know if you are there...**

**I hope you liked this chapter, and probably I'll be updating before Friday, so keep in touch.**

**..love always.. **


	8. Safe

**A.N.: So, I basically love you guys! Thanks so much for all the reviews!! And by the way, I know most of you are picturing Trace as Trace Cyrus, but try and picture him more as a...Drew Roy. If you don't know who he is Google him (he is sooooo cute.) **

**Once again thank you guys so much! I can't believe I have 124 reviews in just 7 chapters! Thank you! **

**Now please enjoy! **

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My shock and dissapointment were kept aside for a while as a new feeling took it's place. Angry soon seemed like an understatement for Shane. He was fuming, shooting death glares under his dripping hair.

"Shane, I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pull you in with..." I started.

"Leave it." He kept looking between me and Trace and Tess, and I couldn't tell who he was madder at.

"I'm sorry, Shane."

"I said leave it, Mitchie." He repeated as he stepped out of the fountain, disappearing into who knows where.

Shane leaving brought the sting back to my eyes; this time I was not able to control it and the tears fell freely down my face.

"Aww...poor little thing." Tess said maliciously, letting Trace grap his arms around her. It was hard to stomach the idea that I had been in Tess's place just a while ago. "You really thought Shane Gray would defend _you_?"

My jaw went rigid, a sob getting caught in the base of my throat. Was that really why I was crying right now? Did I expect Shane to stick up for me?

"Can't even talk...poor little thing, poor little thing." She said as she played with Trace's hair. Don't let it get to your head, don't let it get to your head. "Shane must really be mad at you...I can't believe you were stupid enough to pull him into the water with you." Don't let her into your head. "You know what, I take that back. Shane must've forgotten about you already."

No, I should not punch stupid people just for being stupid. Now I get out of the water, and just walk away.

I drew my own dripping hair out of my face as I stepped out of the fountain. My clothes clung to my skin, the cold of the water got to my bones. Everything felt wrong right now. Everything _was_ wrong.

My cellphone beeped from inside my wet purse. I digged into it just to get a mixture of keys and water, along with a dying screen. Still I tried answering.

"Hello?"

"_Mitc...icking you...ready.._." A distorted voice said.

"What? Hello? Hello? Who is this?"

"_It's me...ne..._"

"Who?" And then my cellphone died. For real. Fantastic. Just _lovely_. Now how the hell am I gonna get home?

I sighed loudly and trusted my cellphone back into my purse, with more tears adding to my face out of frustration.

"What did you expect? With that joke you've got for a cellphone..."

"Enough! I've had enough of you!" I suddenly exploded, turning to face Tess. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"Oh, sweetie, from you we want _nothing_." Tess laughed. "How could you think Trace would actually be even interested on you?" Okay. That hurt.

"Princess, let her be." Trace surprised me by saying. "You had your bet. Let's go now." Bet. Obviously. It's a classic.

"Well, don't you think she at least has the right to know about our super fun bet?" Trace just gave a small laugh and Tess took it as a yes, so she took a deep breath and started crushing what was left of me. "You do know my boyfriend here is an actor, right? Yes? Great. So, after we talked to you that day at school I found myself kind of...bored, and I decided I had to do something about it. And don't you think dares are fun? I do. So I dared Trace to ask you on a date. When he took the bet, and," Insert Tess's bitchy snort here. "You said yes, we decided to make it all a little more interesting. The dare turned into a bet. If by the end of the infamous date you kissed him, I would win. And yeah, I would have won, but I decided it was just no worth it. No Prada bag will ever make the pain of knowing Trace kissed _you_ go away." Tess finished with a little annoying laugh.

For some reason all the retorts that were running through my mind -and trust me, they were a lot- couldn't find their way out of my mouth. I stood there staring at them, not even being able to glare anymore, and just waited. For what, I didn't even know.

"Okay, okay, Tess, let's go." Trace said as he grabbed Tess's hand. "She already proved she was dumb enough." And that was about it. Without thinking about it twice my hand flew in the direction of his face, but it was stopped just inches away.

"Please, allow me." The moment I recognized his voice was also the moment his fist reached the side of Trace's face, making him stumble in his own steps. "That's for just being stupid." Shane explained as Trace tried to recover. "And this..." He prepared his fist again, and hit him, hard, so Trace was knocked to the floor. "This is for messing with Mitchie."

"Oh my gosh, Trace!" Tess exclaimed as I just stood there, frozen at Shane's sweet behaivor. (Sweet towards me, of course.) "How could you!?" Tess squealed angrily, walking towards me and Shane.

"Oh don't you dare come near her." He warned. "Because I would." Shane gave her a tiny smile as he showed her his now red fist; Tess did a double take, and walked back to Trace.

"You...you didn't have..." I tried. He gave me a smile -a true one- and placed his hand at the small of my back. Something in me changed that moment. He once again made me feel...okay.

"Let's go, Mitchie." He walked me to his glossy black car and opened the door for me, I got in and strapped myself safely, Shane sped away. "Listen, I'm so sorry I left you with those jerks a while ago, I was just not thinking and I wanted to get you out of there as soon as possible and I had to go get my car, and it's just now occuring to me that I could've brought you with me, but as I said I wasn't thinking. So, sorry. But the important thing is that now I've got you and you know I'm not gonna let that piece of...that _jerk _get near you so you have nothing to worry about and you're gonna be just fine. Oh, and I should turn the heaters on, you must be freezing. My jacket's in the back you can take it, if you want. I haven't asked you - looks like I'm still not thinking- where do you want me to take you? 'Cause we could go to...

I was vaguely listening to what Shane was saying. How could I let myself fall into their stupid games? They do it to people ALL the time. How could I not think about it?? "Or if you like I can take you home...I'm sure your parents are worried, 'cause by the looks of it your cellphone is not working, see I was the one who tried to call you just a little ago. Cellphones can be so stupid, it happened to me once when I fell into the pool and..." The Queen and King of school just played it on me too. And I was stupid enough to fall for it..."Nate scolded me like you have no idea, it was brand new, you know? Was your cellphone new, Mitchie?" I can't believe I didn't see it coming! "Mitchie?"

I gasped loudly as various sobs caught in my throat. I covered my face with my shaking hands, my tears fell into them.

"Mitchie!" The car jerked to the side and came to a sudden stop. I looked up to find Shane's worried eyes staring at me, the car was neatly parked in an entrance to the beach. "Mitchie, they don't deserve this..." I was breathing too heavily; I could not stay in the car. "Mitchie!" Shane called after me as I fumbled with the car's door and got out, running for the beach, for a hiding spot.

"God, I can't believe this!" I said to myself, struggling to run down the beach.

"Mitchie, stop!"

"So stupid! Never even imagined it!" Shane caught me by the arm then, I tried to get free, and for a moment I did, but the heel of my shoe got caught in the sand, and I fell flat on my face.

Shane was on his knees to help me in no time.

"Mitchie, you gotta stop this." I was not going to desist, I had to run. "Mitchie, listen to me." He tried to make my arms stop, but I kept moving, I really just wanted to go. "Michelle, you gotta listen." And now he's calling me Michelle. Who does he think he is? "Mitch." I had to run.

"Let. Me. Go." I said, refusing to stay still.

"No. I am _not_ letting you go." He grapped his arms strongly around me. He was hugging me.

I tried moving for a while longer, and then just...gave in. He moved himself so I could lay my head on his shoulder, and there I sobbed.

"How could I be so stupid Shane!? How could I let them do that to me?"

"You're not stupid, Mitch. You're not."

"Yes I am! I am hugely stupid! How could I think they would actually break up? They've been T&T forever! They're 'the perfect couple'! They rule my school! I should've known..."

"Hey, hey, listen to me. You better stop insulting yourself, or I'm gonna have to punch you, too."

"I should get a punch. Just one, for being stupid."

I heard Shane sigh heavily over me, he rested his head softly over mine.

"The only excuse you would've for being stupid is called _love_." The simple mention of the word brought butterflies to my stomach, my problems forgotten for a moment. "Are you in love, Mitchie?"

"What? No! It's not about Trace! No! Of course I'm not in love with Trace!"

"Oh. But you are in love with _someone, _then?"

"No! I mean, not _in love._"

"Then you _like_ someone?"

"What? No! No, I mean, no...I...I." It was my turn to sigh now, letting my face fall further into his shoulder. "I don't even know..."

"Oh."

"Can't I just sit here and cry for a while?" I asked in a low voice, closing my eyes.

"Sure." He said as he ran his hands comfortingly along my back. "Sure, Mitchie. I'll keep you safe."

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**A.N.: You know that feeling when you're about to see the Jonas Brothers and you can't even breathe? Well, it's happening to me right now and I'm going nuts! I don't even know how I managed to write this!! Sorry if I have spelling errors or something, but I'm really going out of my mind! **

**Thanks again guys for still being here! **

**REVIEW! :) **

**..love, love..**


	9. Obvious Signs

**Once again I'm gonna thank you all for the reviews :) It's impossible to take a break from trying to write this when you guys are so nice! (Yes, writer's block payed a vist to me last week.) **

**Enjoy :)**

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"So, you're trying to tell me that Shane Gray, _Shane Gray_, sat on the beach with you, hugging you, while you wetted his shirt?" Sierra asked, working on Caitlyn's hair.

I nodded, a grin plastered on my face.

"Don't forget Sierra, his shirt was already wet." Caitlyn mocked me.

"But, still. This is Shane...and Shane never seemed to even like you." True.

"Oh, Si, c'mon. The guy is head over heels for her." Not true.

"_What _are you talking about now, Caitlyn?" I wondered out loud. I was not really stressing on my crazy friend's comment, I, for once, knew how ridiculous it sounded that Shane Gray was head over heels for me.

"Okay, here we go." She wheeled around on my chair to face me, a serious look on her face. "First he goes and contacts a complete stranger he saw on the internet: he shows he likes the looks and the voice. Then he goes all jerky on you when his friends talk about you: he shows his big need to impress you and feels embarrassed by his friends. Then he doesn't talk to you for almost a week: he is sorry for his behavior and doesn't know how to act now. Then he brings you breakfast: his silent apology and a way of showing he thinks about you. Then for some reason you bump into him on a date: he is a complete jealous monster."

"Don't call him a monster." I automatically defended; Caitlyn continued as if I had said nothing.

"Then your date turns out to be a complete ass -who I'm gonna hunt down one of this days, by the way- and Shane acts like nothing else matters but to defend you. He gets you into his car, according to what you told us babbled nervously all the way, he then won't leave you alone when you ask him to, he comforts you, he proves he is there for you: he shows he is head over heels for you."

"Wow. He really has been throwing those signs." Sierra said, wheeling Caitlyn back to finish her hair. "Nice theory, Caitlyn."

"Thank you, thank you."

"I still don't see how that proves that Shane likes me."

"Did you not listen to any of what Caitlyn just said?"

My really old cellphone vibrated then, Caitlyn snatched it before I could stand up for it. It was a text because she stared at the screen for a while.

"And lastly, he texts you asking to come over: he shows he can't go a day without you."

"Read, Cait, read!" Sierra asked her as she took a seat next to me on my bed, finally done with Caitlyn's hair.

" '_Hi Mitchie_' there's a smiley face here, '_watcha doing tonight? Jason and I are planning a really cool video games night, wanna join us ?_' and then he writes between parenthesis, '_Don't worry, I did invite Nate, but he is busy tonight_.' "

"Busy with what Caitlyn? Who does he have a date with?"

"Not gonna work Mitchie." She warned, throwing my cellphone to me. "We're talking about you right now." Damn. Well, worth the shot.

"Text him back!" Sierra urged me.

" '_Hi Shane! Sorry guys, I can't make it tonight. I feel so bad turning you down, can I make it up?' _" Sierra over read to Caitlyn. "What the heck are you doing? Why can't you make it tonight?"

"Our sleepover, Sierra."

"Mitchie, c'mon! We can have a sleepover any day! Tell him you changed your mind now."

"No!" I looked back at my vibrating cellphone. I openned the text. " '_Well, we do feel very hurt. Come apologize tomorrow, at dinner?' _There, Sierra. No harm done."

_Great, see you tomorrow_. I texted back to him. Could it be possible, what Caitlyn said? I mean he was being very sweet to me, but, he is Shane, and Shane dates gorgeous girls (lots of them) and not...me.

"Earth to Mitchie, Earth to Mitchie." Caitlyn snapped her fingers in front of my face, somehow already changed into her outfit.

"What?"

"Nate's here."

"Oh." I stood up and gave her a quick hug. "Good luck, have fun, okay?"

"Sure!" She picked her cellphone and placed it inside her jacket's pocket; Sierra led her to the door.

"Talk to me." Sierra demanded the moment she came back.

"What about?"

"Mitchie..."

"Fine." I laid back completely on my bed, staring at the Connect 3 poster on one of my walls. "What do you wanna know?"

"What did you talk about?"

"I don't know, nothing, really. We talked about Trace and some other things and when I finally stopped crying he brought me home."

"What exactly are some other stuff?"

"I don't know Sierra..."

_'The only excuse you would've for being stupid is called __love__.' _Shane had said_. 'Are you in love, Mitchie?' _

"Mitchie, what's going on?" She asked, a little concerned.

I rolled to my other side, giving my back to Shane's picture.

"I'm afraid I might be becoming really stupid."

* * *

**A.N.: Caitlyn and Nate are on their date right now :) Woojoo. I love love. Love's just so nice. Yay. 'kay, sorry, I don't know what's with me. **

**Review please (L) **


	10. You Might Lose

**Quick update just for you :) **

* * *

Once again I was fiddling with my necklace, sitting on a stool. At the kitchen. At Connect 3's apartment. Nate seating on the stool next to me. Shane upstairs apparently showering. Jason at his room playing his guitar.

You get the picture, right?

"Can I ask you something, Nate?" The words left my mouth before I could think it twice, and I partly regretted it.

"Sure," He closed his laptop, fixing his attention on me. "What's up?"

"Um...it's about Shane...he, well I just wanted to know how he...I mean...he's just so hard to read!" I finished blurting.

"Okay, that's not really a question...but I think I know where this is going." The man must be genius. I didn't even know where I was going. "Look, through it all he's a nice guy, a really nice guy. But recently, he seemed to be going through a, well, I guess you can call it a dark period. He felt like the label was against everything he wanted to do, and there was not much he could do about it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like...like doing a cake."

"_What?_" Maybe not so genius.

"Yeah. You bake the cake, you put all your effort, and mind, and heart to it, and you taste it, and you think it is delicious. But then you want someone else to try it, and to make his friends try it. But he doesn't want it, he doesn't even want a bite. And you cannot force him to."

"Because the cake is not good?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it is not. The probem is they're not giving it a try."

"You know, Nate, I would've understood without the metaphor."

"I know...I'm just really craving cake right now...anyways. Shane's cake was there, and to me and Jason it was good, but too much days went by, and well, cakes go bad."

"So Shane is as...defensieve as he is because of his failed cakes -I mean songs?"

"I guess it was just lots of stuff thrown at him. He was also giving up on finding someone."

"What? Why?"

"_Every_ relationship he started just...failed. Just a couple of days after starting to see someone he would find himself alone, again."

"That's why he is so distanced?"

"Yup."

"But I feel like, sometimes he opens himself to me...am I making that up or...?"

"Oh, Mitchie, you are a whole different story." Nate said with a small laugh. "How many times do you think Shane has messaged girls he sees on YouTube? Jase and I were shocked to our very core. I mean, he was actually smiling as he told us what he have done, we thought it was the end of jerky Shane."

"And it is not?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Mitchie. We'll just have to wait and see."

Hhmmm. I don't think Shane is a jerk, at all, he may have some slips, but hey, who doesn't? And when I bumped to him on my date...

"What was Shane doing last Friday, at the restaurant?"

"Oh, just a bussiness meeting with our producer."

"Are you sure it was not a date?"

"Are you being jealous?"

"No! Curious."

"Well, no, it wasn't a date, Mitchie." Nate assuered me with a smile.

"Fine." I smiled back at him. "So tell me all about last night."

* * *

**Shane's POV **

I can't believe I wasn't ready earlier. I can't believe Mitchie's downstairs, waiting, and I'm here, having trouble lacing my shoes.

What the heck is my problem? What on Earth has that girl done to me?

Like I care, anyway. She might just be her...the girl on all my songs. And tonight I'm gonna see if I'm right, because I cannot keep running away from what she makes me feel, and maybe is just a matter of _trying_.

Pray for me, would you?

I darted out of my room and into the stairway, taking two at a time, I was a step short from reaching the main level when I overheard Mitchie and Nate. Something made me stop.

"Thank you soooo much for last night Mitchie!"

"Yeah? You had fun?" Okay, Shane, be a big boy. If you're gonna eavesdrop eavesdrop till the end, it might not be what you're thinking.

"Like you wouldn't believe! I adore you, I literally love you." Mitchie laughed at Nate's words, she seemed happy. "But, what about you? You didn't seem that happy when I got to your house to..." Okay, grown up time is up.

"How hypocrite you are." One of the many things that were running through my mind slipped as I entered the kitchen.

"Shane." She smiled, holding her necklace closer to her. "What did you..."

"Would you like me to leave? So you can have a good time alone with Nate?" Her expression turned confused, she took a step closer to me.

"What's going on, Shane?" My temper rose an inch higher at her fake innocence.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid okay?"

"Dude, no one's treating you..."

"Oh don't even talk to me you damn back stabber."

"Shane!" Mitchie exclamed, her eyes shinning under my glare.

"What!?" It made me feel awfully guilty to make Mitchie look as indefensieve as she seemed right now, but couldn't she see what she had done to me? Dating my best friend. "_What_, Mitchie?"

"What the hell did we do?"

"You lied to me! You, Mitchie, you made me see things that weren't really there, you were just playing me with that stupid pretty-little-girl face!"

"What are you talking about!!" I noticed how this suddenly turned into a fight of two, Nate no longer mattered in here.

Nate was not the one that had killed my hope all over again.

* * *

**Mitchie's POV **

What was going on? Why was he screaming at me? Why did he have to go and be all perfect just to turn back and be a perfect idiot to me?

Just when I thought I had found _him_.

"Shane _please._" My voice broke.

"No, you please Mitchie! How could you be so...so...so low!"

I felt like my breath stopped for a minute there. I couldn't feel the beat of my heart. But I could clearly notice the moisture falling down of my eyes, and the shaking of my hands and knees.

"Why are you talking to me like this?"

"Stop that! Stop! Stop crying! Stop trying to fool me with your lies!"

"Lies! What lies?"

"Mitchie, let him breathe for a while, just..." Nate tried to comfort me, but the minute he placed his hand on my arm he was pushed aside, Shane's face a deep shade of red.

"You're always lecturing me," Another push. "About morals," Push. "And friendship!"

"Shane please stop!"

"You should hear a little of what you say!" He gave him a one last push and Nate bumped into a stool, knocking it to the floor.

"What is going on in here!" Jason came rushing into the kitchen, serious as I've never seen him.

"What is going on in here, Jase, is that it turns out Mitchie right here, turned you down last night because she had a _date_."

"_What?_" Nate and I said in unison, while Jason just focused on making some space between Shane and Nate.

Enough. That is it. I've had enough of Shane's attitude. Enough.

"That's what this is all about? Your stupid conjectures that aren't even real??"

"Oh, c'mon Mitchie, we both know what a good time you had last night with Nate."

"Shane have you gone mad?" Nate asked as he calmly picked up the stool, and sat on it.

"So now you're gonna try to make me feel like I'm crazy!"

"Shut up Shane! Shut up!" I ordered him -ordered- wiping my tears away, my eyes suddenly dry and my eyebrows knotted together. "Get a brain or I don't know, just: shut up."

It seemed like the order had been send to the three of them, and that surprisingly they had obeyed, for they all fell silent at once.

"I can't believe I even considered being friends with you! I am sick of this. I've known you for not more that two weeks and I'm already _sick_ of you."

I grabbed my purse and headed to the door, only turning back to add something.

"You talked to me a whole night about how horible Trace and guys like him were, but you know what? You're no better than them." I held his cold look for one more second and opened the door. "I'm leaving."

"Finally! Been wanting you to since you got here." He catched the door before it could close behind me. "And, Mitchie? You're no better than that Tess girl, either!"

I broke into a run as I finally exited the building, not really knowing where I was going.

Not knowing what was going to happen next.

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**A.N.: Unlike Mitchie I do know what's going to happen next. **

**Don't know how you liked this chapter, I know you were all expecting a completely different thing, but, well, you know Shane. Very Shane-y he is. Blah I'm not sure if this chapter is exactly what I wanted but I do know if I keep edting it I'll just make it all worse and loose my point and create a massive writer's block. So here it is as it is. **

**Still hope you liked it. **

**PLEASE REVIEW ! :D**


	11. Everything

**Here it is!! :D**

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I stood in front of the conference room's door unable to lift my hand and swing it open. Today I was half an hour early.

This has never happened to me before, on a Monday morning, not needing an alarm clock, it was definitely a first. But since I was barely able to sleep I decided maybe I could get here early to find an empty room, just so I could be prepared and bear whatever trouble he was going to cause today.

As I remembered my purpose I took a deep breath and openned the door.

Oh, but isn't destiny funny? The room was not vacant.

"Hi, Mitchie." I stood immobile for a second at the door frame, cursing the skies for my bad luck. I decided to ignore him. I placed my bag and my guitar on my usual chair, hoping he would ignore me back. "I am SO sorry, Mitchie."

Shane waited a moment for me to say something, or maybe just look at him, but I kept my eyes focused on my notebook, trying to concentrate.

"I was -no- I _am_ an idiot. I know that." He walked to my side and sat on the chair next to me, pushing my notebook aside. "The biggest idiot the world has ever known." Well at least we agree on _something._ "But I need you to forgive me."

I stared down at my notebook under his hands, while he stared at me.

"Okay." I reached for my notebook, but Shane didn't let it go.

"You forgive me?" He asked in complete shock, his brow more forrowed now.

"Yup. Apology accepted." I extended my hand. "Now, may I have my notebook back?"

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get to work?" I said with a raised eyebrow, playing fool.

"No. I mean, you're obviously really mad at me, why aren't you yelling or something?"

"Oh." I held his eyes for a short second. "I'm just proving I'm way better than Tess."

"There it is." He fake smiled as he stood up again, wheeling my chair around to force me to look at him. "I knew you didn't forgive me."

"No, really Shane, I do." I copied his smile. "I'm just not interested in treating you anyway that is not bussiness-like."

"Mitchie, you have to understand. I was out-of-my-mind angry. I didn't mean any of the crap I said!"

"I hear ya. Okay, we're cool Shane."

"Mitchie!"

"What, Shane??"

"C'mon! Either forgive me or fight me, but please, do _something_." He clenched his fingers to the backrest of his chair. "Your indiference kills me!"

"Shane, my dearest friend," Isn't sarcasm a nice, nice thing? "I forgive you."

"Dammit Mitchie!" He hit the chair with both fists, wheeled it sharply and took his seat back, leaning so his face was inches away from mine. "Why are you doing this to me? Can't you see I actually care about you?"

Okay. Now I remembered all the things I liked Shane for. His temper, but his gentleness. All of a sudden my eyes were moist again.

"Shane, I..." I was overwhelmed by the need to tell him everything. I wanted him to know everything I was feeling, I wanted us to work this out, I wanted us to be friends. "I...I really have to finish my song." But as you can see, I chickened out. I turned back to the table, noticing that Shane had left his seat.

"Okay. Thanks for your time Mitchie, I can see now you don't give a damn about me."

"How can you possibly say that?" I said in a low but irked voice. I left my seat, catching Shane with his hand on the doorknob, ready to leave.

"Am I wrong?" He questioned, turning back to me.

"Like you don't know, Shane." I ran my fingers through my hair as my exasperation grew, my eyes stung. "Weren't we friends? Friends care about each other; friends don't tell friends the things you told me. Friends _trust_ each other."

"Please understand Mitchie: I thought my two friends had been _dating_ behind my back." Now it was his turn to run his hands through his hair, but he pulled and ruffled it, his jaw tight. "Please try to understand how I felt."

"But the point is you didn't trust me! You didn't even trust Nate!" Ooops. Didn't mean to yell.

"How could I when everything I heard assured me I was right?!" Great. Now I set off his temper. Let the yelling begin.

"That's why it is called t-r-u-s-t!! You believe even when EVERYTHING tells you not to!"

"Michelle I'm sorry! Okay? I am sorry! Aren't friends also supposed to be about forgiving?"

"When they diserve to be forgiven, yes!" Stupid Shane. Stupid, stupid Shane. I hate him. I really do. I hate him and his I'm-so-adorable face. "But how many times are you going to do this to me Shane? How many times are you going to treat me like your best friend one day, just to stomp on me the next one??"

"I'll stop when you change the way you treat me!"

"You know what you problem is, Shane?"

"Please do tell me Dr. Phill." I ignored hsi remark.

"You're always seeking for comfort zone. Always. The moment you feel you're walking just an inch away from it you start acting like the _biggest_ jerk." I quickly brushed my hand to the corner of my eye, refusing to let the tears fall. "You're not a jerk Shane. You just NEVER have the guts to do what you really want to do!!"

"Oh, really?? That's what you think of me?" He asked in the same high voice I was using.

"Yes!"

"And you wanna see me having guts?"

"Would be nice for a change!"

He broke our eye contact, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Fine. Fine." He turned back to me, his expression set. "Here's me having guts."

It took him one stride to close the distance between us. In one second his hands grasped the sides of my face, and next thing I knew his lips met mine.

A couple of breathless seconds passed, none of us moved, but suddenly, and apparently at the same time, we both relaxed.

His hold on me turned gentle and caring, my hands moved to rest over his chest. Our lips moved together, blended.

Every retort and every apology, every look and every smile, everything was poured into that kiss.

Everything.

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**A.N.: I know what you're all thinking: FINALLY! About time, Shane. You too Mitchie. Let's wait and see what this two are up to now. Hope you really liked this chapter. :D I think I did. **

**REVIEWS PLEASEE!! **

**P.S. Sorry for last chapter's horrible writing. I re-read it and it was terrible, hope I was able to make it up with this one n_n! **


	12. Stand With You

**I love chocolate cake and I'm very excited because Camp Rock 2 is on its way here. Cheers to that. **

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"Mitchie," Shane began, moving one of his hand to my hips, holding me. Shane was holding me. And I don't mean holding me physically, I mean _holding_ me.

He gives me one kiss, and I already feel like I belong to him. I cannot have that. I can not let someone apart from me hold me.

"No, no, no, no." I pushed him away from me, backing as much as I could.

"Mitch?" Hurt crossed his features at my rejection; he took a step closer to me.

"No." I said again, more to me than to him, making him freeze right where he was.

"'No'? What do you mean 'no'?"

"You tell me! What does this mean?" I don't know why I was totally and stupidly freaking out at the whole situation. It scared me.

"Well, I don't know...um, we just kissed?" Oh, really?

"No, _you_ kissed _me_." I accused. "What does that mean??"

He sighed, completely confused at my behavior. Obviously he had expected a different reaction from me.

"Mitchie, I have no idea. I just did what I felt like I wanted to do."

"So this has no actual meaning?"

"Well, yes, I just don't know what it is..." I gathered my things up in what seemed like a second, fixing my eyes anywhere but at him.

"What are you doing?" Shane asked me from the spot he was apparently unable to leave.

"Doing what I feel I want to do." I told him, reaching the door in a quick pace.

* * * * *

Brilliant Mitchie, you had to stand there and kiss him back. Terrific. Obviously I couldn't have enough with just being kissed by him, _noooo_, I had to kiss him back, just to show him everything I felt.

I had to royally screw up.

There's no way of fixing this.

And then, after acting like the hormonal teen taken out directly from the cheesiest movie, I had to freak out, and leave Shane there completely confused.

Royal screw up.

"Uggh." I complained to my reflection on the mirror, making a face.

I decided to try and get something out of all my frustration; I grabbed my guitar and my lyric notebook, making my way to the backyard. Why had it felt so...so I-never-want- to-stop-kissing-you like? I wondered as I sat on my glider bench.

I began strumming my guitar, following the chords Nate and Jason had been working on for "This is Me."

"No more hidding who I wanna be...this is me..." I sang under my breath. It was getting frustrating, being unable to finish the song. I closed my eyes, just letting the music flow through me, trying to find the words my song was missing.

"I know what it means." I yelped as my swinging was forced to stop; my eyes snapped open, of course, to find him.

"Shane?"

"It means I like you. It means I don't want to be away from you. It means I know you're as scared as I am, but it also means I'm willing to protect you, I _want_ to protect you, and keep you safe. I meant a lot of stuff with that kiss, Mitchie, some things I cannot put into words. It means you make me speechless. It means how much YOU mean to me. It means I want to be with you." Shane said it all in one breath, his determined eyes staring into mine, my mouth agape.

I stared at him, watching his chest rise and fall heavily, watching him being nervous. I placed my guitar on the ground, the seconds seemed to be ticking by unhurriedly, I felt like everything was in slow motion.

But it gave me time to think.

I stood up from my seat, not looking at him yet, trying to get used to the butterflies and shivers that ran through me. I knew my eyes were gleaming with tears again, and I just had one question left to do.

"Do you promise to keep me safe?" When I looked into Shane's eyes I knew the answer before the question had been asked. And it was not something that would make me cry for the wrong reasons.

Shane scooped me up in his arms, settling me in the bench next to him. He encircled me with his arms, protectively, warmly.

"Just if you let me be by your side." He said in a gentle voice to my ear, placing a light kiss to it.

I couldn't help it. I was too happy/confused/scared/blissful right now. I let the tears fall into his shoulder, this time I grapped my arms around his middle -I wanted to hold him, too.

"Hey, hey," He lifted my chin with his hand, searching my eyes. "This is the last time I want to see you cry, okay?"

I smiled, happy despite my stained cheeks.

Shane smiled back at me, a spark I had never seen before coloring his eyes.

His expression changed for a moment, I saw him leaning in, asking for permission with his eyes. I only closed mine, and seconds later I felt his lips pressed adoringly agasint mine.

The kiss lasted just a moment, but it was all we needed, all it took to left us both smiling.

He moved his forehead to rest against mine, he was chuckling, I was giggling. It was as perfect as it could be.

I don't know how much time we spent just swinging back and forth, enjoying each other's company, and the comfort I knew we both felt.

The sky was now dark, dotted with just a few stars. I was resting against the backrest of the bench, my head on Shane's shoulder, my eyes peacefully closed. I felt Shane shift under me, his lips brushing against my ear.

"You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing, I need to find you, I gotta find you. You're the missing piece I need, the song inside of me, I need to find you, I gotta find you." He sang softly, to me.

I seated up, more than loving the way the words felt. "What's that?" I asked, giving him a questioning look.

"It's for you." He smiled and pulled me back into his arms.

"Wait, wait, wait." I freed myself away from his arms again, grabbing my guitar, suddenly confident with inspiration. "Sing that again."

He looked questioningly at me. "You're the..."

"No, wait!" I played on my guitar until I found the piece I was looking for. "Okay, go!" He laughed at my enthusiasm, and sang.

"You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing, I need to find you, I gotta find you. You're the missing piece I need, the song inside of me, I need to find you..."

"I gotta find you." I joined him, smiling widely. It clicked. It was exactly what I had been looking for.

"This is real, this is me, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now, gonna let the light shine on me. Now I've found who I am, there's no way to hold it in, no more hiding who I want to be, this is me."

He smiled, knowing exactly what I was doing, agreeing.

"You're the missing piece I need, the song inside of me."

"This is me."

"You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing."

"Now I've found who I am, there's no way to hold it in. no more hiding who I want to be, this is me."

The song was finished. It was everything I had expected it to be.

Looks like Shane was all I needed.

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**A.N.: n.n sorry. I couldn't help it. I had to add just a little more drama :D But then there was the light fluff. Believe me, when I write fluff, it's usually fluffier than this. yay. okay. I'm a little dry right now. So I just hope you liked it! **

**Oh, and thanks SO much for the reviews to last chapter :D :D :D**

**I love you all!!**

**Review please! **


	13. Drama Queens

**A.N.: I knooow. I'm such a horrible person for the long wait. I'm so sorry. I was just lost. (And really busy.) But please read and enjoy :) **

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"No!"

"Yes!"

"N-o!"

"YES!"

"NO!

"Mitchie c'mon!"

We were having a little bit of a discussion, standing at the recording cabin, waiting for Nate and Jason.

"Why would I want to keep _us_ a secret?"

"I've told you already!" It wasn't an angry discussion, of course; ocassionally one of us would let a giggle out, or throw raspberrys, or anything along that lines, but still, a discussion is a discussion. "Press won't let you even _breathe_, and I don't want that for you, Mitch."

I smiled a little at his concern. Then went back to my stubbornness.

"Okay. So we don't tell the press. I want to tell my friends and Nate and Jase."

"Michelle..." He hung his head, fake crying.

"Shane."

"You don't have an idea of what a painful pain in the ass Nate would be!" He stepped closer to me, slipping his hands to my waist. He changed his facial expression and his voice, it was just the perfect balance between cute and sexy. "Do you want your poor little boy to suffer?" It was irresistible, if you ask.

"You're not my little boy..." I tried to say, but finished up in a pathetic mumble as Shane's lips captured mine. I sighed into the kiss, giving up...

What? No! Not giving up.

I pushed his face away, making my biggest effort to keep my head cool.

"And _you_ don't have an _idea_ of how painful it would be for me to be unable to tell my best friends. We started dating just yestarday," Yup. A whole day of dating Shane Gray. Yes indeed. " and I already feel like it's eating me alive!"

He stared at me for a few seconds, blinking rapidly.

"Well, someone's being a drama queen." He mumbled.

"Yeah. YOU." I poked his chest, pushing him away from me.

"I'm not being a drama queen!" Shane protested childishly. I half laughed at him. "I'm just trying to make you realize how hard it would be."

"What would be hard?" Jason asked as he entered the recording cabin, relaxed and happy. He was holding a doughnut in one hand , his guitar slung over his shoulder.

Shane's eyes widened to the size of a moon, just a reflection of mine. "Umm...it would be hard, if...um..."

"Yes, Shane?"

"It would be hard if Mitchie didn't agree to change her name to Barbara." I mentally slapped my forehead. This boy was going to be the death of me.

"Barbara? What does 'Barbara' has to do with anything?" Jason's brow forrowed as he placed the last bite of doghnut in his mouth, I tried thinking quickly, and only came up with an answer as brilliant as Shane's.

"He thinks that if I call myself 'Barbara' I would sell more." Jason quickly gulped the food in his mouth, throwing Shane a look. Shane glared at me.

"Why??"

"He says 'Mitchie' is ugly." I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. Shane only glared deeper.

"Shane!" He scolded Shane. Whoopsy.

"Hey, you know what Jason, at least I got her to forgive me and talk to me again. You know, about the whole you-guys-are-dating fiasco." Shane tried to change the course of the conversation, making himself look good. I only rolled my eyes at him. So like Shane.

"Well I guess you're right." Jase nodded his head and rested his guitar against the wall. "Yeah, you're right...anyway, I better go look for Nate and Caitlyn." He trailed off as he exited the room.

" 'Shane thinks 'Mitchie' is ugly', really?"

" 'Barbara', really?"

"Call it even on stupid things to say?"

"Sure."

We both smiled at our sillyness, Shane leaning in for a quick peck.

"So, we agreed on telling our four best friends, right?" I asked as I catched him by the neck before he could turn away from me. I kissed him again before he answered, trying to turn things up to my favor.

"Yuuup..." He breathed, lingering on my lips.

"Great!"

"No! Not fair! You cannot ask while your face or any part of you is five or less feet away from me. It's distracting."

"Fine." I snapped, my pout firmly laced on my lips now. "But if we don't tell anyone just keep in mind my face or any part of me will always be MORE than five feet away from you." I finished with a huff; just in time, because a second later Jason, Nate and Caitlyn -yeah, not Nate comma Caitlyn, but Nate & Caitlyn. Let us all smile at that. -walked in.

"Okay, guys let's start!" Nate encouraged, completely pumped. I beamed at Caitlyn (who was here to record the keyboard part with us) and walked to the center of the room where the microphones were located, placing the headphones over my ears. Shane came to stand next to me; he did a discrete gesture to my hand as he lifted his to reach for the headphones, but I just pulled my hand away and looked straight to the glass pane, where two men had just appeared.

"Hello guys." The older man said through the microphone, taking a seat in front of all the switches and buttons. "Mitchie, Cailtyn, I'm Josh..."

"Connect 3's producer." Caitlyn finished for him.

"We know." I smiled.

"O-kay...so now that that's done, what about we start?"

We all yay-ed and yeah-ed and smiled to that, and off we went with recording "This is Me".

I was not liking Shane at the moment, for only one reason: turns out, when you care about someone, as much as I care for Shane, and you have a duet with that person, as beautiful as my duet with Shane, turns out it's really hard to bottle up every little spark that runs through you, to swallow the impulse to hold said person's hand, or even smile at him, in another way that expressed more than friendship.

And for the desperate glances he threw at me, I knew Shane was not liking himself, either.

"Okay guys you're all doing great!" Josh said as he stopped the song again. "But I still feel there is _something_ missing in your part, Shane and Mitchie. Let's take ten, okay?"

We okay-ed and slowly started leaving the small room. Shane and I were last to leave.

I was just an inch away from the door when Shane grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me close to him, pressing his lips to my cheek, pecking them quickly and repeatedly.

His lips tickled me swiftly, making me laugh, which only encouraged Shane to continue his kissing.

"You guys are kissing." Someone said through the microphone, perplexed.

"Whoopsy." Shane muttered against my cheeks.

We had been caught.

Oh, yeah.

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** A.N.: I'm weird, I know. Worst ending I've ever ever wrote. Not so good chapter either. But I just HAD to update. Had to! Anyway, I'll make it up with next chapters :) make this thingy good and interesting. **

**Aaaaand, this is the last chapter ever I write as a fourteen year old n_n I'm so small. lol. I'm turning fifteen tomorrow! Yay, yay, yay! Well, in about two hours, actually. But I'm so happy!**

**You know what would be the BEST birthday gift EVER?? **

**REVIEWS :D **


	14. Kiss and Tell

**Thanks you guys for the reviews! I love you so so much! I hope you like this chapter! **

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"So sorry, Shane, this is a kiss and tell situation." I whispered, laughing at Shane's frozen lips over my cheek, while woring a bit about my friend's reaction.

"Don't panic, Gray." Caitlyn laughed as she picked up music sheets from the desk, shrugging the incident off like she saw us kissing everyday. "I haven't even told Sierra, not planning on saying something now, either."

"See? I told you you didn't have to -wait..." Realization sank in as I watched Caitlyn's face. I pushed Shane away and crossed my arms. "You knew??"

"Mitchie do you really think I'm that distracted? You literally skipped your way here! While singing! I felt like we were in a flippin' cartoon with all the happiness." Well my life does feel like a flippin' cartoon right now...

The door next to Caitlyn swung open, letting Nate in; he quickly studied the scene before him.

"What's up?" He asked with a forrowed brow.

"Nothing, I just caught Shane kissing Mitchie." Caitlyn answered, waving a dismissive hand.

"Oh, okay." Nate said, his brow no longer forrowed.

"You knew??" Shane asked as shocked as I had been a few moments ago.

No doubt Caitlyn and Nate were perfect for each other.

"Shane, dude, you could as well worn an "I'm dating Mitchie." t-shirt. You got home last night singing 'Singing in the Rain'," _The sun's in my heart, and I'm ready for love ..._aww, how sweet. "And offered to make dinner for everyone. This morning you woke me and Jase because you were singing in the shower and then at breakfast you asked for a group hug. Man I was getting worried until I got here and talked to Cait, we knew then it was true."

"So you guys can continue with your kissing, and cuddling, and all that stuff; our lips are sealed." Caitlyn promised, bringing a hand to her mouth and pretending to zip it.

"And you're not gonna mess with me, Nate?" Nate only shook his head. Shane turned to look at me with a terrified look on his face. "Oh God, has hell frozen over?" I laughed and wrapped my arms around his middle, to which he quickly responded by encircling me with his strong arms.

It felt so easy, so automatic, as if we had been together for our whole lives.

Nate and Caitlyn watched Shane stroke my hair, place a kiss to it, and by the looks on their faces I knew why they were so willing to keep it a secret.

They got it. They knew how we felt. They _saw_ it.

"As long as it is what's best for you guys will keep our mouths shut." Nate assured Shane. "Shane you're the only one who knows how you feel and the one that knows what would be safer for your relationship, so we'll respect that."

"Thank you guys, I appreacite that..." Darn. So I guess this was a battle I had lost. I will have to settle with just Caitlyn and Nate knowing. "But," Oh, there are buts! "Mitchie is right. I don't know what I was being so paranoic about. Our friends knowing, if only, will just bring more support for us."

"Wait, so we're telling!?" I asked Shane when he finished talking.

"If that makes you smile like you are right now..."

"Oh my God! Yay!" I threw my arms around his neck and popped a big kiss over his cheek, his laughter filled my ears, and it just made my smile intesify.

"But just friends Mitch -close ones."

"Just friends!" I said as I turned to Caitlyn and Nate, my eyes fell for a second at their hands, they were intertwined together. (I think I'm reaching levels of happiness my body has never known before.) "Cait, I can't wait to tell Sierra! And my mom! And my dad! Uhh...Dad..."

"Uhh...Dad?" Shane questioned, looking a little panicked. "There's a problem with _Dad_??"

"No, no...well yes...but no!" I smiled at him, brushing his worries away. "Nothing we can't solve." He just smiled and believed me, because he knew it was true.

Minutes later our break was over and Jason and Josh came back, and we told them, Shane looked like he was breaking a sweat and all I could do was stutter. But we just were being a little paranoid.

I think Jason's heart stopped for a few moments then. But after a looong pause, at last he started jumping and talking really fast and enveloped all of us in a group hug. Then I think our breathing stopped at the force he applied to it.

But I don't care, because everyone seemed happy, even Josh. He stared at Shane a lot after that, and he seemed to like what he saw in him.

The song went great, too.

We sang holding hands, or with Shane's arms over my shoulders, or around my waist, or giving the other a soft kiss now and then. (Yes, as cheesy as that.) Josh said that we didn't just look better, but that we also sound better.

I'm pretty positive that was true. I felt better.

Now I just had to tell my mom and my dad and Sierra.

And that's easy, because of all the people on Earth, they are the ones who will take anything as long as I'm happy.

And boy, was I happy right now.

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**A.N.: I'm so happy because today I finally figured this whole story! I know exactly what's going to happen next and how it's going to end. (but that doesn't mean it's ending soon) so this means no more writer's block! at least that's what I'm hoping. :D I hope that you like what I have in store for you...I know I screamed when the idea popped in my head :) **

**anyway, a year ago, on a september 20 like this, I started my first fanfic :) awww. that's why I was so determined on updating today. thank you guys for all te reviews and for being the smile on my face for a whole year :) writing is something I really love and the reviews just make it all way better. **

**I better go sleep now or I'm going to get in trouble. **

**I love you guys! **

**REVIEW pleaseee.**


	15. A Big Date and a Big Mac

**:) :)**

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I squeezed my eyes and took a deep breath as I finally heard the doorbell ring. I practically bumped into everything in my room in my attempt to reach the door before my mom, or my dad.

I tripped twice over the staircase, but still managed to get there just a second before my father.

Gasping, I opened the door.

"Hi Shane." I said breathlessly, half because of my eventful run, half because of how perfect he looked.

I only got a cheeky smile in response, his eyes lighting up before me.

He leaned in to press a kiss to my cheek, our fingers intertwined together.

I was about to move my face, to find his lips, when a shift behind us made me abruptly self-conscious. Shane noticed it, too, and quickly pulled away.

I gave his hand a comforting squeeze, for I could feel his slight nervousness transmitting through it.

A laugh choked in my throat as I remembered my conversation with him this morning. _"I so can't allow myself to screw this up."_ Shane had said over the phone, _"I think it would kill me...if your dad doesn't take care of that first."_ Such a paranoid man, my date was.

"Hello." My mom smiled at him, sweet as she was with everyone. "Please come in."

"Oh, please do." My dad mused through gritted teeth.

I threw my dad a look while I showed Shane to the living room. He had been warned. After clearing that I wasn't Shane's _girlfriend_, and that we were just _dating_, I had made him promise to behave. Shane was important to me, and he had to respect that. (Though I found Shane's glances towards my dad's cold stare a _little_ bit funny. Okay, funny. Okay, no, _really_ funny.)

"Mom, Dad," I started once everyone was seating down. "This is Shane Gray. Shane, my mom and dad."

"It's really nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Torres."

"You too, Shane." Mom answered, and turned to my dad, waiting for his answer. "Isn't it nice to meet him, Steve?" She asked when he didn't say anything.

"So, Mr. Gray," My dad avoided the question, "Where are you taking my daughter tonight?" Actually that was something I really wanted to know too.

"Uhh- sir, you see..."

"Oooh it is a surprise isn't it?" My mom exclaimed, getting excited for me.

"Yeah, kinda." Shane mumbled, looking at my mother. He felt safer there; we both could feel my mom liked him already.

"Oh, well, then that changes everything..." Shane's face dropped as he heard my father say this, but his mind was set.

"But sir, I can promise you I'll take care of her as much as I take care of myself," My dad made a face. Damn you Hot Tunes for spreading Shane's bad boy rep... "More. And she'll be home before curfew. Sir, believe me, I would never let anything happen to Mitchie."

I exchanged an isn't-he-sweet look with my mom when Shane finished talking, but then I felt his eyes on me and turned to him. His everyday confidence was back.

I gave him a grin.

My father stayed with an unimpressed look on his face. He sighed and glanced at his watch.

"Well, you better get going if you want to make it to curfew." We all stood up as my father walked to the door; Shane grabbed my hand again.

"Yes, thank you sir."

"Have fun guys!" My mom squealed waving at us.

"Thank you Mrs. Torres, we will." Shane smiled back to her as my dad let us pass through the door. He muttered something inaudible as Shane exited, but I was pretty sure it had the word 'curfew' in it.

We had almsot reached Shane's black car when I noticed I didn't have my purse with me; I let him know and rushed back into my house.

I opened the door to find my dad holding it up for me. I smiled and gave him a quick hug.

"He's a good boy, Mitchie." He whispered. "But don't let him know I said that."

* * * * *

"Drive-thru McDonnald's? This is the big secret you couldn't tell my dad??" I laughed at him as he rolled down his window to order.

"Just order, Mitchie." He said with a look. I rolled my eyes at him and gave him my order, and he then spoke both orders to the little microphone outside.

"Seriously, why didn't you want to tell my dad?"

"Patience, Mitchie." He smiled at me, knowing I was a curious girl and was dying to know.

"Tell me!"

"You'll see." He chuckled at my whinny tone. "Just wait!"

Once we had paid -well, Shane had paid, despite my complaints- and picked our food, we sped off the McDonnald's, driving to some unknown destination.

"May I know now?" I asked after a while of driving.

"No."

"And now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Mitch, you're being annoying."

"Shane, you're being a jerk."

The car came to a stop. And it was in the most beautiful spot it did.

The city beneath us looked amazing, its lights twinkling in the dark night.

"I take that back." I said as I continued to gaze at the location he had picked.

He rolled his eyes with a chuckle, getting out of the car to open my door. I noticed there wasn't much around us as I stepped out of it, except for a big bench and lights to illuminate the viewpoint.

It was extremely pretty, and pretty simple, too. But it seemed like a dream date.

"You like?" Shane questioned, a smile laying on his lips, as he dragged me to seat on the bench.

"What do you think?" I retorted, smiling at the whole thing, at him.

Shane sat down next to me and placed the food between us. We ate our Big Macs over a loud conversation, enjoying our time together more than anything.

"...so I said: "Who do you think you are? Hannah Montana or something? Get off that wig and go say hi to your fans, Nate!" You should've seen his face, Mitch! He turned bright red and didn't talk to

me for the rest of the day!" I burst into a fit of giggles as Shane finished another story. It had been over one hour of just seating under the lights, hearing stories about each other. Every minute that passed I was more and more convinced that Shane and I were perfect for each other: our conversations never ceased, our smiles never left. We just seemed to fit.

"Okay, my turn." I gave another bite to my hamburguer and placed it back on the paper. Shane shoot a nervous glance to it.

"What?" I asked him, "You want some? I mean I just have a bite left but here..." I picked the burguer and offered it to him, but he just shook his head 'no'. "You sure?" He nodded. I shrugged my shoulders and placed the remaining food in my mouth happily.

"Good?" Shane smiled.

"Mmhhmm." I assured him and turned down to the grapping paper, folding it.

My hands suddenly froze as I noticed something unusual on it.

I looked up at Shane with a questioning look; he answered with a shrug and a smile.

I unfolded it and my eyes slowly traced the big, bold black letters on the center of it.

**I want to call you my girlfriend.**

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**A.N.: I know it might be a little too cheesy but heeeeey let the poor popstar be cheesy :) I wrote this chapter real quick and I'm taking that as a good thing. Is it a good thing? **

**Let me know what you guys think about this! **

**love always, xoxo **


	16. Simple

**I am a shameless woman, I know. I just had no inspiration, and I was feeling really bad about that. I thought I was never going to finish this story. But I am going to. I promise.**

**also, I noticed that last chapter I didn't stop calling Mitchie's parents Mr. and Mrs. Gray. sorry about that. my bad...**

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"You gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Shane asked, taking the wrapper from my hands. "Did they mispelled it? What does it say?" He read the single sentence on it several times and then looked back at me, assured that it was what he intended to say.

There was a moment of silence as I thought his request through, while he tried to understand what was going on in my head.

"Mitchie," He called, his patience consumed. "What do you say?"

"Uhh..." I ran my fingers through my hair and whispered what I was thinking.

"No?" Shane asked, his eyes quickly leaving my stare as his confidence was shaken by my answer. I mentally slapped myself for my lack of tact and brought his eyes back to mine with a caress of my hand.

"I mean...I want you to ask, Shane." I laughed as I felt my nerves running up and down me. "It's important that you know Shane that I don't care about all this kind of stuff," I threw a glance to the wrapper, "I want you to ask with no big production; no spending your money so McDonnald's will print you a special wrapper. I want it to be just you, because in our relationship I will only care for _you_." I bit my lip when I finished talking, and Shane just sat there, staring at me.

Minutes passed and Shane still said nothing. I was beginning to think he wouldn't ask at all when he soflty put his arms around me, kissing my cheek as he leaned in to whisper something in my ear.

Let's just say this time my answer was a definite yes.

***

"I have a boyfriend!!" That was the first thing I said to my two best friends the moment I spotted them on Monday morning, not even being able to say hello.

"_What?_" Sierra and Caitlyn asked in unison.

"I, Michelle Torres, am officialy in an amazing relationship with the most adorable guy."

"Mitchie!! I'm so happy for you!" Sierra squealed and gave me a quick hug.

"Thank you!" I said with a big smile on my face. Then I turned to Caitlyn...my smile fading. "And you..." She tore her eyes away from my glare, fiddling with the pen in her hands.

"It was just a little joke..."

"You don't get to play with Shane like that, Cait! Why did you tell him he had to make something "extremely special and cheesy" to ask? You know I don't care about that! You made the poor boy nervous!"

"Sorry, Mitch!" Caitlyn laughed, hiding a little behind an also laughing Sierra. "Nate and me just wanted to see how far he would go...is that thing about the burguer true?"

I only glared at her while she laughed about the whole thing. She took that as a yes.

"Now that's original!" She said clutching her sides. I rolled my eyes at her and turned to my locker. When Caitlyn was attacked by a fit of laughter, there was no stopping her.

I opened my locker to the usual books and the many pictures of my idols, spotting my _boyfriend _among all of the faces, and I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of him. I was about to run my hand through his picture when I saw Caitlyn and Sierra watching every move I made. Making fun of me. Typical.

My cellphone vibrated inside my pocket, making me drop the books I had just picked on my haste to answer it.

"Hello??"

"_Hi Girlfriend_." Ever since saturday Shane had grown on the habit of adressing as 'girlfriend'. Even when he talked to Nate and Jason, he didn't say 'Mitchie this, or Mitchie that.' no, it was now: 'Did my girlfriend call?', 'Hey guys, I'm going to see my girlfriend.' I found it rather cute, but I could tell from Nate's tone he was getting sick of it.

"Well, hello, Boyfriend. How are you?"

_"Extremely good looking. You?" _

"Better looking than you."

_"Liar." _

"Jerk."

_"Whatever. Hey listen I just called to let you know you have to come down to the studio later so you can listen to "This is Me". Nate just told me they finished mixing it this weekend." _

"Oh, really? That's great!"

_"Yeah...Nate said it is amazing, and he doesn't lie about that kind of stuff. Anyways, I gotta run now. You want me to pick you up later?" _

"Yes please. Just not here at school." At my house around five, okay?"

_"Sure. See you later Girlfriend." _

"Later Boyfriend."

I closed my cellphone with a content sigh and placed it back in my pocket just as the bell rang to announce the beginning of another dreaded day of school.

Not that I cared. I was going to see my boyfriend later.

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**A.N. Bad filler chapter. yuuck. don't blame you if you detest it but I didn't know what to do with it. next chapter I'm turning the direction of stuff. getting things back to interesting ;) sorry for the long wait guys. believe me, I tried so many times to write this chapter and nothing came up. this is the best I could manage (just imgine how bad the things I first wrote were.) anyways, you guys deserve more quick updates, and don't worry, you'll get them. **

**Again I'm so sorry, I know I have no excuse. **

**love you guys. **

**btw, I also love Joe's new haircut (L)_(L) **


	17. Love Hurts

**I would appreciate it if you read it, enjoyed it, and then told me what you think. :) **

_

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I love you_ was definitely the hardest statement someone had to make, or rather, confess. Definitely.

I tried it last night, after celebrating one month of being able to call Mitchie my girlfriend. As I was walking her up to her front door, I looked at her and her flushed cheeks, her thorn hair, heard her giggle hanging in the air, and I just couldn't help it, the words came flowing right out of my mouth.

I love you, I muttered to her last night.

But apparently I was not clear enough. Mitchie's hand slipped from mine as she mouthed a "what?" the moment I said it, her brows furrowed slightly.

And I panicked. My mind raced. In just a second a million questions ran through my head.

_What if she doesn't say it back? _

_What if I scare her away? _

_Am I pushing this?? _

I chickened out and quickly recovered with an "I love you...r hair." It was simply pathetic. After that Mitchie just gave me half a smile and kissed my cheek, quickly going into her home and shutting the door after her.

I drove home mentally slapping myself—and physically, a couple of times—picturing in my mind how it would've been like if Mitchie had actually understood what I had said to her.

I imagined her wide smile, and I imagined my own as she whispered the words back to me. I imagined the electricity that would've traveled around us, and the major kissing that would've surely then unraveled (not that I'm a perv or anything, but I sure love kissing my girlfriend).

So before I had reached my apartment I had made up my mind.

I would try it again. And I would get there. Even if I had to use a microphone or paper and a pen to write it down to her. Before the end of the day Mitchie would know how much I love her.

Man, I love her.

I reached her house and slightly frowned as I saw another car had taken my usual spot in her driveway. I shrugged it off and parked behind it, taking in a couple of breaths.

_Keep it cool, Shane. _

As I stepped out from the car I heard her voice coming from her yard; I grabbed the flowers I had gotten for her and closed the car's door quietly—I wanted to surprise her.

"Hey babe, I have something to tell you..." I rehearsed to myself as I made my way to her backyard. I unconsciously ruffled my hair as I looked down at my feet, pushing the door open.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I brought them back up.

Mitchie was seating in her gliding bench, her hands folded on top of her knees, tears visible in her pretty eyes. Though seeing her sad made _me _sad, the person kneeling next to her was the one to piss my temper off.

Trace Deluca.

The guy I hated the most in the whole 1,276 square miles of Los Angeles. I hated him long before I first saw him with my Mitchie. I will hate him long after that. Especially if his hands keep touching my girlfiend's.

Unable to control myself, I tossed the flowers aside and stalked closer to them, my hands clenching tightly.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" The words came out harder than I had expected them to; Mitchie jumped up in surprise, but kept next to Trace.

"Telling her the truth." The douche answered, sliding his hand to rest on Mitchie's shoulder. My stomach burned at the sight of Mitchie not pulling away.

"What?" I asked, walking closer to Mitchie, pulling her close to me by the hand. "Babe what is he talking about? Why are you crying?"

"You and Tess?" The words were barely a whisper out of her mouth. I froze in place. Her hand dropped from mine.

"What did you tell her?" I demanded of Trace, pushing on his shoulders.

"Shane, what he told me doesn't matter. What matters is if it's true or not."

I stared at her, trying hard how to explain.

"Shane?"

I ran a hand through my hair, and the words escaped my mouth, "Mitchie it was a long time ago."

"Oh my God." She cried the words, stumbling back into the bench. I was next to her and at my knees in a second, my hands at the sides of her face, my eyes trying to find hers under her hands.

"I don't know what he told you, Mitch, but whatever it was is not reason for you to cry. We dated a couple of months ago, we broke up, I met you. What's the matter?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was necessary, why tell you when you were already crying so bad?"

"So you also didn't think it was necessary to tell her how because of you she cheated on me?" Trace asked, coming closer to Mitchie again. "Or how you called her just a month ago?"

"Oh, you son of a..." I threw myself at Trace, pushing him until he hit a tree.

"Shane stop!" She pulled at my arm and I had to stop myself, to protect her. "Just get out of here please."

"Mitchie c'mon! Are you really going to believe him?"

"No!" Mitchie snapped back at me. "Of course not, babe...that's why I'm asking you. I'll believe YOU if you tell it's not true."

Of course I could not tell her it wasn't true, because it somehow was, but I could not bring myself up to explain.

"Babe, just tell me it's not true so we can move on." She said, touching my cheek with her fingertips, pulling my forehead to rest against hers.

"And what if I don't tell you it's not true? What if it is true?" I asked slowly as I placed my hand over her hip. "Will you give me the chance to explain?" I know I should've stopped talking then, but the image of Trace touching Mitchie popped in my brain, and my anger flared. "And then you will explain to me what he is doing at your house." It was not a request, it was an order. "Why was he even close to you, and why did you let him touch you like I didn't exist."

One moment her eyes were soft to mine and the next one they were hard. Angry.

She pushed herself away from me in one movement.

"You can't afford to be mad at me right now, Shane. So don't even try to turn this up on me."

"Mitchie I—"

"Is it true or not?"

"Mitchie,"

"Is it true or not, Shane?!"

"It is. Now let me explain, please..."

"Get out of here."

"Mitchie, baby,"

"Get out of here!"

"Listen to me Michelle!"

"Shane we're through!!" She used both of her hands and all her force to push me away, her tears shinning over her face and eyes.

I blinked and my own tears fell. I gave her one last pleading look, but her eyes were set. I stalked out of there.

"You know what the worst part is?" Mitchie asked as she chased me up to my car; I turned to look at her, my eyebrows raised. "The worst part is that the person I thought you were protecting me from, is exactly the person who's protecting me from you!"

I stepped into my car, turning the key in the ignition.

"No, Michelle, that's not the worst part." The car roared to life, my heart shrinking more and more with every breath I took. "The worst part is I love you."

I love you was definitely the hardest statement someone ever had to say.

Especially to the one person who wants you away from them.

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**A.N.: Sorry? Sorry times 10000000? SORRY!! :) And also sorry if this chapter was to out there but I couldn't think of a better way to link my story with what I had planned. Hope you guys still like this enough to review, because my life is like yuck right now and inspiration is hard to find, you guys are kind of one of the only things that inspire me. I don't know what else to saaaaaaay it's been TOO long. My own fault. **

**I hope everyone is doing fine, send you my love! xo**

**R. **


	18. Should've Known Better

**Hello y'all. **

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"Mitchie, sweetie, everything is going to be okay."

I heard the words over and over again. Every thirty seconds Sierra said them, stroking my hair, and then it would be Caitlyn, rubbing my hands in hers.

They said them time after time. But the words weren't true. They weren't real to me.

Because it was not going to be okay. Shane wasn't here to make it okay.

"I...I..." Every time I tried to speak my words came out between gasps; it was hard to breathe. I wasn't okay. "Sh-Sh-Shane!"

"Oh, Mitchie, it's okay."

"Just...just stop!" I burst out suddenly, making both of my friends jump away from me. "Stop saying that. It is NOT going to be okay."

"Mitchie," Caitlyn said, trying her best to keep herself calm. "It's just a guy. It will be okay."

"You don't get it." I dropped my head to my hands; I felt every part of me shaking. "He said he...he loved me. Shane said he loved me."

I looked up at them, my tears ceasing for a little, and watched as their mouths slowly dropped open.

"He said he loved even after I had told him I wanted nothing to do with him." I stood up from Caitlyn's bed, moving around frantically. "Even after I had listened to another jackass tell me stories about him!"

"Real stories." Sierra said.

"Maybe; yes. But so what? So what if he dated that...that _girl_. He was dating me now. And he was a loyal, fun, loving boyfriend. Loving. He loves me."

The wave of emotion that hit me then was so powerful my knees buckled under me. I looked at my friends, my expression resolute.

"And I love _him_. More than anything. So stop telling me it's going to be okay, and start telling me how I can fix this. I need to fix this."

* * *

"Nate please, I just want to understand things." My new master plan: Nate. Nate was going to help me get things okay, therefore Nate had to be visited at Sunset Records.

"Well, Mitchie, talk to him. Please don't drag me or Cait in." He said as he picked new strings for his guitar, holding two gold ones against the light to decide which one was better.

"Come on Nate!" I pleaded, slapping my hands to the table. "I thought we were friends."

"Mitchie of course we're friends. But Shane is your boyfriend." I winced, because that was no longer true. Nate noticed. "Sorry." He picked his guitar and loosened the tuning pins. "But what I mean is, Shane is your person, and this is between the two of you, and nobody else. I have as much right as Deluca to interfere in your relationship." The unkind tone he used to say Trace's last name surprised me, and left the need to know in me even bigger.

"None..."

"Exactly." He sighed and dropped to a chair next to me, leaning against his guitar. "Look, Mitchie, Shane is my best friend, my brother, and I know nothing makes him happier than you. So I will tell you one thing: he's never, ever, been unfaithful to you. You're his whole world, Mitchie."

"Well, then, just tell me what happened with Tess so I can't stop being mad, grow a pair, and run back to him!"

Nate chuckled under his breath as he stood up and shook his head.

"I've told you Mitchie, that's not my story to tell." He pulled the old strings from his guitar and threw them in front of me for me to roll. "But hey, Shane will probably be here in no time. Why don't you just wait for him so you guys can talk? God only knows how much you both need it."

"Oh, no, no, no!" I said in a sudden panic, pushing the strings aside. "Shane must never know I was here. Please Nate, please promise you won't tell him. Please?" I made puppy-dog eyes at him, hoping I would convince him.

"Fine, fine, I won't tell him. Though it doesn't make sense to me why you wouldn't want him to know."

"Do you not know him? It's Shane we're talking about. He's probably furious with me."

"He's not furious with you...he's just..." He rested the guitar against the table as he searched for words. "Shane."

"Of course he's Shane, so I..." I suddenly froze in my chair as I heard the doorknob move, and a voice asking for his driver on the other side of the door. "It's Shane!"

"Mitchie just calm down..." Nate said, placing his hands on my shoulders as I stood up.

"Hide, hide, hide." I reached the little closet where they kept old mic stands and stuff nobody needed in two long strides, and threw myself inside.

"Mitchie!" Nate hissed, trying to stop me from closing the door.

"Shh! You promised!" I whispered to him and slapped his fingers away just in time. Shane burst through the door seconds later.

The door of the uncomfortable space I was foolishly hid in was left ajar, and I could see his perfect figure as he stood on the doorway. I longed to run back to his arms and tell him how much I loved him.

"Hey, man." He said to Nate, scanning the room. "You were talking to someone?"

"Umm...I..." Nate stuttered, looking around. Shane looked at him questioningly. "Cait. Yeah, Cait. Phone." He explained picking his cellphone from the place it was...at the other end of the table. "See?"

"O-kay..." Shane furrowed his brow slightly at him. He took the seat I had been on and propped his feet on the table. "I have a new song."

"You do?" Nate's eyes instantly lit up at the thought of new projects.

"Yup." Shane said with a pop in the last letter. He dug into his bag and tossed a couple of papers to Nate.

"What is it about? Mitchie?" Nate questioned, flipping the pages over.

"Nate, please, don't."

"Shane," He scolded, throwing his song back to the desk. "When are you going to make things right with her?"

"I don't know, Nate."

"Why don't you call her?"

"'Cause she doesn't want to talk to me." He said with raised eyebrows, running his hands through his hair. "She made that clear." The indifference with which he said it almost killed me.

"Maybe she does, dude..."

"No she does not. She would have called by now if she did. It's been two weeks."

"Haven't you contemplated the idea that maybe she's just scared?" Nate pressed on, "That she thinks you wouldn't talk to her, either?"

Shane nodded his head slowly, "I think I thought about it once or twice while I cried myself to sleep the day we broke up, but no, not anymore."

"Shane, you're being too—"

"Listen Nate, I get it. I get why your need to believe in "true love" and all that crap we write about, but I'm through with this, with relationships, with Michelle." He waved his hands dismissively as if to prove his point. The first tear escaped my eyes.

"Dude, I thought you loved her."

"We live in a deceiving world, my friend. That's how life works." Shane stood up and slung his bag across his shoulders. "Do me a favor and pass the song to John, alright?" Nate and me watched him with the same incredulous expression as he made his way to the door and pulled it open. "Thanks, you're a doll."

"Hey, Shane, where are you going?"

"Tess's." Shane called behind his back, and the door shut behind him.

I was sure my heart was literally breaking. Literally. I could feel it.

"Oh, Mitchie, I'm so sorry." Nate said the moment I stepped out of the closet.

I shook my head at him as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I gave him a weak smile.

I walked to the big table, trying to take one step at a time, and read the words in the heading of the page.

_Video Girl_

_

* * *

_**A.N.: I have some things to say today,**

**Joe and Demi dating huh? I guess most of you must be Jemi fans. But if anyone would like to differ, I feel ya. Really. I just don't think they_ go _(though I feel Shane and Mitchie are perfect for each other.) I don't know. But I guess as long as Joe's happy...**

**And I read The Last Song, you know, Miley's movie, and I really liked the story, and after the 24 hours it took me to read it I felt like I wanted a little bit more but I noticed there isn't a category for it here at fanfic. Does anyone know any fanfics about it? I really thought I would find some...**

**Also, I'm totally at a loss of what to read. Have any of you read anything good lately? **

**And I just forgot what else I was going to say...**

**Anyways I hope this was a good chapter :) I woke up this morning feeling really ready to write. Thanks for reading guys,**

**Please review!! :D **

**love, **

**R. **


	19. Selfish

The rain dripped slowly down my classroom's windows. The day was gloomy outside, mirroring my mood.

I could distantly hear what Mrs. Hall was saying about our current book, _Pride & Prejudice_, but I didn't pay much attention to the words; I didn't want to understand them.

I solely focused on the soft, slow rain...

A hard pinch on my arm suddenly brought me back to the class. I started, giving Caitlyn a questioning and annoyed look. She only widened her eyes in response and motioned toward Mrs. Hall, who had her arms crossed and was looking pointedly at me.

Crap.

"Miss Torres, you look very deep in thought. Thinking about Mr. Darcy, perhaps?" Try Mr. Gray... "Care to share your opinion on him?"

It took me a while to think of something to say.

"I...I don't think he's as good as everybody else says he is." I looked back at the rain for a moment, then directly into my teacher's eyes. "Not a fan like everybody else."

Her gaze became curious. She obviously sensed the intensity of my words.

"And why's that? If you've been following the reading you can see how utterly selfless and kind he is, despite society's beliefs."

"Selfless?" I laughed humorlessly as I rolled my eyes, ignoring Caitlyn's cautioning looks. "He is the most _selfish_ person ever."

"Well, it looks like someone didn't complete the reading."

"Of course I did!" I shot back, now irked. "But he had no right! To burst into her life, when everything was perfectly fine without him, to tell her he loved her even when he knew she _hated_ him."

"Miss Torres, please keep your voice down." She placed her copy of the book over her desk calmly, her eyes never leaving mine. "And you're being very unfair. Loving someone is not selfish."

"Well, somehow he manages to make everything selfish. He makes the whole world spin about him!"

"I'm going to have to say you're reading comprehension has a _lot _to be worked on."

Oh, no she didn't. I write, for Christ's sake. I think I know how to read.

"I think my reading comprehension is just fine, thank you." I raised one eyebrow at her, and she seemed to be defied. She was right to feel that way. I _was_ defying her.

I suddenly became very aware of all my classmates's stares on me, probably thinking I had lost it. Like I cared. I was too damaged anyway.

Mrs. Hall turned back to her blackboard, but not before saying, "You will bring me 500 words for tomorrow, expressing all the good deeds Mr. Darcy did and your opinion of them."

"What for?!" I all but shouted, getting up in my two feet at my frustration. I slammed my copy to the desk, feeling Caitlyn's hand tugging at me. "Just because I don't think he's a knight in shinny armor?? You gotta be kidding me!! He loved her, very much, but he wasn't brave enough to chase after her, when clearly all Elizabeth needed was no be chased! Sure she was wrong, maybe even more wrong than him. Listening to what other man she didn't knew told her, I honestly don't know what she was thinking!" My own words took their take at my heart. Tears bubbled in my eyes. "But the point is Darcy didn't chase her because of _his_ fear. Because _he_ didn't want to get hurt. Because he wasn't observant enough to see that he was slowly, and steadily, becoming her EVERYTHING."

Caitlyn's hand folded over mine, comforting me. I was practically gasping for air.

"Make that a thousand words, Miss Torres." Mrs. Hall was pretty pissed by now, her eyebrows knotted together.

"Screw you, I'm not doing anything!" As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them. I mentally kicked myself. I could hear the word before she even said it.

"Detention," She muttered, slowly and menacingly, "Now."

Dammit. Damn everything. Damn my whole damn life.

Damn him.

I caught my reflection in the door of detention's room. I was taken aback.

Who was this girl staring back at me? Her face angry and wet from the tears, her eyes drained of every sparkle.

Who was this?

I entered the room with my shoulders slumped down. I quietly slipped a note saying who sent me here and why to the teacher in charge, and took a seat at the back of the room.

I dropped my forehead to my desk, choking on a small sob. I wiped the tears off and turned my face to my side.

I did a double-take.

Life couldn't possibly be this mean.

"What are you doing here?" I asked to Trace Deluca, as I noticed how he tried to avoid my eyes.

"Punished." He said shortly.

"No kidding."

He gulped and drummed his fingers on the table, looking anywhere but at me.

"Is it true?" I whispered, staring at his nervous fingers. Nervous? Was I making him nervous?

"Well, yes. I'm not here on my own will, you know."

I resisted the urge to punch him on the face.

"Not that, you jerk." I gave him my coldest glare. "I'm talking about Shane."

"Look, it's really none of my business." Trace said quickly as he hold his hands up in defense.

"Oh and it was of your business the day you purposely destroyed my relationship??"

"Uh..." He stammered and shot a look at his watch. He gathered his things. "I really shouldn't be talking to you...my time's up."

He was out of the room in four long strides. I couldn't help but make a face at the door as it shut close.

The world had definitely gone insane.

* * *

"Nate, c'mon I told you why I can't today. I have lots of homework." I heard Caitlyn say tiredly into her cellphone as I catched up with my two friends at the end of the school day. I threw Sierra a look.

"Little fight." She explained. I formed and "O" with my mouth and nodded in understanding, getting into the passenger seat of Caitlyn's new car.

"Listen, I gotta drive." She rolled her eyes at whatever Nate was saying. "Fine, fine. Me too." She turned the keys on the ignition. "'Kay, bye."

Caitlyn closed her cellphone at me and sighed heavily, muttering something about men under her breath.

I turned the radio on before any of them could ask about my outburst, or how I felt.

"_Video girl rocked my world, for a whole two seconds and now I know, I'm not about to be another victim..."_

I scoffed, throwing my head back to the seat.

Of course that would be the first song to come up. After all, it was number 1 on iTunes.

The radio was turned off as fast as it had been been turned on, but it was Sierra's hand which shot all the way from behind the backseat to it.

She pulled her hand back and moved closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder as I began to cry.

* * *

**A.N.: The fastest update I've done in a long time, seriously. Anyways thank you so much for your reviews, I really, really appreciate you taking the time to tell me what you think. **

**Thanks for reading :D **

**REVIEW! **


	20. Lucky, are you?

**Just to clarify, it's 2:33 a.m. and I'm tired and I don't have a beta, so mistakes happen. Sorry. **

* * *

I stared intensely at the blank page in front of me. My eyes dry from three months of crying, my heart barely there, my mind somewhere else.

Songwriting had never been this difficult for me. In fact, it always had been easy, my feelings just flowed into words. This time the problem was, my feelings came out in just one word:

Heartbreak

"Forget it." I whispered frustratedly as I put my notebook and pen down in my bed, getting up to reach my cellphone.

"_Yo girl, you are trying Nate's patience here. Mitchie you know both of us understand what you're going through but it's been three months and your single HAS to be released. You all worked so hard on it! Think about it please, it may do you some good. We'll be at the studio around 4, if you feel like dropping by; love you kiddo. -Caitlyn" _

I reread her e-mail once again. It had been displaying unanswered on the screen for a long time now. My eyes traveled unwillingly to the digital clock on the corner of the screen. 3:22.

I let out a long sigh.

I knew they were right, "This is Me" couldn't be left forgotten forever. It was too much of a good song for that. It had meaning and it had heart. And Connect 3's fans deserved to be able to have it on their playlists.

Why would I be the reason to keep hiding that song?

What, because it hurt too much?

Honestly, I no longer believed I could be hurting more than this. (Or at least I hoped.)

Making up my mind, I stood up straight and walked to my vanity table. I quickly ran a brush through my hair and applied a little bit of blush to my cheeks (Believe me, it was necessary).

I opened up the left drawer, looking for my good luck charm.

It wasn't there.

I opened the other two drawers, but it wasn't there either.

I quickly ran to my bedside table, to my closet, under my bed, to the bathroom, even to my parent's room, and still my necklace was nowhere to be seen.

Now that I thought of it I hadn't seen it in a really, really long time. I mean, it wasn't like I was doing interesting, luck-needing stuff these days. I just couldn't place the last time I wore it.

"Mom!" I called her as I reached the kitchen. She wasn't there but the TV was on. I rolled my eyes at it as the presenter for Hot Tunes appeared in the screen. "Not interested..." I muttered to myself as I muted it.

I knew it seemed silly to freak out over such a small thing but that necklace meant a lot to me, not to mention it was my only chance of walking down to Sunset Records as a confident girl. My eyes started stinging at my frustration.

"Honey," I bumped my back against the wall and pressed my hands against my chest as my mother suddenly appeared at my side. She cocked her brows. "So, guessing by that reaction, I'm guessing you have decided to go down to the Records?"

I looked her in the eye before nodding once. She smiled a tiny smile at me and grabbed the keys on the kitchen counter in one swift motion.

"Wait," I half-laughed at my always eager mom, who was practically out the door.

I suddenly remembered she knew how desperately I sought my little necklace every time I was feeling unsure, and how she always reprimanded me for feeling the need to wear something to feel okay, so I directed my eyes elsewhere as I said, "Mom...have you seen my," My eyes wandered for just a second, before landing on the TV.

Shane Gray was there.

I was tempted to launch for the remote and throw the volume up, but something else in the video they were showing captured my attention quickly and made me forget about everything else.

The usual stuff showed in the screen: a Shane running away from the paparazzi and a couple of thirteen-year-olds, his expression as annoyed as ever. But there was something new on the picture there, something I had never noticed before.

I tried to decide if I had never payed enough attention or if it was new, but the simple sight of it made my insides warm and for a second I felt _right_ again.

Of course my first feeling was confusion of what it meant, tears and a smile building up at the same time.

"Sweetie," My mother snapped her fingers once in front of my eyes, oblivious to the fact that the boy I still loved was currently on our television, swirling every feeling and every nerve inside of me. "If I have seen what?"

I stared at the screen as the image changed to one of Hannah Montana, my mom finally glancing up at it.

"Mitchie?" She tried again.

"Uh...umm..." I looked at her, feeling the corners of my mouth twitching up. "Never mind, I...uh...just remembered where it is."

I had just _seen_ where it was.

Because I was almost sure I had not imagined it. Because my mind was not creative enough to make me see my lucky charm, my cheap, not-so-pretty necklace dangling from the very top of Shane's guitar case as he climbed into the backseat of his SUV.

I was almost quite sure.

And I was almost as sure I had seen him twist it into his hand and press it softly against his lips, before disappearing behind the black doors of the vehicle.

I desperately tried to believe my eyes hadn't tricked me, for had that images been true it would mean that at least he didn't absolutely loathe me. I liked the idea of him not hating me.

But then again, I was just _almost_ sure.

* * *

**A.N. So this chapter didn't lead to where I wanted it to buuuuuuuuuuuuuut we'll get there next chapter :D Which I'm pretty excited to write so my Magic 8 Ball is telling me it'll come pretty soon. **

**Thank you for reading and for your reviews, I really, really appreciate it. **

**Oh, and on regard of my other story, "Shaken", in case anyone is interested, I AM going to update it, I'm just trying to figure out how to approach and stick to my storyline. I know, it takes me a lot to figure out things. **

**Anyways, please review! **

**xo. **


	21. Falling Together

**muahahaha! **

_

* * *

Caitlyn I'm sorry I couldn't make it today...what about tomorrow? I promise to be the first at the studio.. _

I was about to press send to my texted apology when the doorbell rang. I left my BlackBerry on the kitchen counter and opened the door.

"Oh, hey! I was just about to text you to—Caitlyn?" I did a double-take. A double-take of her disarrayed clothes and her bright cheeks. A double take at her shaking form. But mostly I did a double-take of her eyes. Her puffy, bloodshot eyes. Her crying eyes. Caitlyn NEVER cried. "Oh my God Caitlyn! What's wrong??"

I quickly pulled her inside the house and shut the door closed, guiding her up to my room.

"Caitlyn, talk to me." I commanded softly as she collapsed into my bed, choking in between sobs and heaving loudly. "Sweetie c'mon..."

"I hate him! I hate him!!" She mumbled onto the pillow, pounding her fists to my mattress. I was so lost by her behavior all I could do was rub circles on her back. Was this about Nate? "How could I be so darn stupid!" She turned to look at me, and she looked desperate. "How could you let me, Mitchie!! You knew I didn't believe in all that sappy, romance, love stuff; you knew I didn't _need_ it. And yet you pushed me into Nate's arms and now look where it got me!!"

"Okay, Caitlyn, walk me through this...did you guys have a fight?" I placed my hands over her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down. Whatever happened must've been big because Caitlyn never lost it like this.

"We freaking BROKE-UP." She held her breath for a minute, while I thought of something to say.

"Oh." Was all I could articulate, and she broke down into my lap again. "What...um...what happened?"

Caitlyn rolled onto her back and took a couple of deep breaths. I laid down beside her, taking her hand in mine.

"Well, I guess it was all kind of out of the blue. Nate was pissed at Shane and then he got a bit pissed at you because you didn't show up, and I was just trying to make him understand how hard this is for you—" She stopped there, gulping her tears away. My own tears were beginning to well up. "And...I don't remember what happened next. One minute we were talking and the next he told me to stop putting you before everything else, and I told him I couldn't make him my entire world.

"He told me he wasn't okay with that and then we were screaming and throwing things and telling each other we never wanted to see the other again." Caitlyn raised our intertwined hands to wipe a tear away form the corner of her eyes. "It was horrible, Mitchie."

I was about to tell her it would be alright. That we would get over this together, that she didn't need him; we didn't need them.

But just as I opened my mouth I changed my mind.

I was not going to let her make the same mistake I did. Not Caitlyn and Nate.

They were _right_. They belonged together.

"Screw this." I flung my legs over the side of the bed and made my way quickly to the kitchen. Not thinking about it twice I grabbed the keys to the car, the car that my mom only let me drive on emergencies, and half ran to the driveway.

This was an emergency.

"Mitchie! Where the heck are you going??" Caitlyn called after me as I got into the driver's seat, bringing the car to life.

"To Nate's." I threw the car on reverse and was ready to go in a blink of an eye. "I don't suppose you're coming...?"

"Michelle, no. Don't you dare do—"

"That's all I needed to now. See you later, Cait."

I sped away, leaving my friend frozen on my driveway.

Before I was even completely aware of it I was parking in front of their big apartment. I caught the door as one visitor exited the building, thanking the sky for not having to buzz.

I rolled my eyes at the number on their door—333—and pounded hardly three times.

The door opened seconds later.

"Mitchie?" Nate asked in a low voice. I smiled a little. He wasn't looking much better than Cait.

"_You_." I accused, inviting myself into their living room.

Nate looked innocently behind him and then pointed at himself, he did look confused.

"_You_ are gonna go apologize right now." He stared at me for a minute, his mouth hanging open, before snapping out of it, and ran his hand tiredly through his hair.

"Mitchie, it's complicated." Oh, please!

"No, it's not!"

"Mitchie..."

"Nate, believe me, I don't mean to intervene in your relationship—I know I don't have the right to—but Caitlyn is one of my best friends and you are my friend, and what you're doing here is plain stupid. Stupid."

"Mitchie I don't like what we're doing, trust me, but sometimes things fall apart."

"But you guys didn't fall apart. You had a fight, big deal! Nate, I know Caitlyn, she's not a big believer, and once she loses her trust on someone it never comes back, no matter what."

Nate looked at me, the same desperate look I had seen on my friend, and plopped himself to a chair at the table, burying his face in one hand.

I took a seat next to him, placing my hand lightly on his.

"She loves you." His eyes snapped to mine at that, as if trying to decide if I was telling the truth. "It takes a lot for Caitlyn to love someone, especially like she loves you. She's never been in a relationship before, but she's also never been as happy as she is with you."

I hoped that would make it for him, I hoped I wouldn't have to convince him with what I had convinced myself to come here, but he stayed quiet, so I continued.

"Please, Nate. Don't throw it all away, because you have _no_ idea how much it hurts. It's not the break-up, it's not seeing the person you love walk away what hurts the most: it's the everyday life after that. It's missing him Every. Single. Day." I could feel the tears sliding through my cheeks, and they only made me more stubborn to convince him, because I would not let Caitlyn become the emotional wreck I was.

"She's not you, Mitchie." He slid his hand away from mine. He stood up, facing his back to me. "Don't get this the wrong way, but she's stronger."

"Oh, really?? Because the girl sobbing in my bed didn't look all that strong to me! It breaks my heart to see her that way, Nate, so I'm begging you, if you don't do this for her, do it for me!" I stood up as well, he was really starting to get on my nerves. "Because, seriously, I don't know how much more I can take! My heart was already in a million pieces, and this is just making it worse.

"I know what it's like, loving someone so much all your feelings are on edge, you make rough, bad decisions. Mistakes. You let go." My voice cracked. I paused, not knowing what to say anymore. "I miss him, Nate. So much. But you...you could just grab your goddamn keys and run back to her. You could work it out, stay together, stay happy."

I don't know what Nate saw on me but suddenly something shifted in him.

I could see the change set in his eyes.

"Okay."

"Okay?" I asked, shocked.

"Okay..." Nate repeated, a small smile coloring his face. He dipped his hands into his pants pockets and pulled his keys out, lounging for the door. He blew past me, and I was left the same way I had left my friend merely thirty minutes ago.

I heard footsteps behind me and I turned, ready to tell Nate to hurry the hell up.

But it wasn't Nate.

Our eyes locked, the way they hadn't locked in three months, the way that feeling and words were said without being spoken.

Shane's eyes were as watery as mine, standing a good distance away from me.

"We could work it out, too." He said.

* * *

**A.N.: The words just typed away, I didn't over-think them like I usually do so I hope you liked! **

**You liked?? **


	22. Scared, Confused, Together

**Please don't kill me...I am extremely sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

But, how could we work it out?

I wanted to make up for saying that, for that slip, because suddenly I wasn't sure we could.

How could we? We were both so broken.

"I don't want you here, Mitchie." I didn't quite filter the words before I said them, but all and all, they were true.

"I don't want to ever feel the way you have made me feel. I don't want to feel the pain anymore. I don't want to miss you. I don't want to feel angry at myself...I'm sick of feeling _freaking_ out of my mind." I restrained myself from cursing. From smashing something. From screaming how much I hated her. From kissing her senseless. "And I think I'm getting better. I mean, it doesn't feel as bad as it did three months ago...I'm...we're getting better."

Mitchie stared at the floor as I talked, her cheeks puffed out and hanging like they did when she got upset. Unconsciously, I smiled a little at the sight. I had always thought that made her look lovely, though I knew Mitchie found it embarrassing.

"This is so not the way I wanted us to go," I said with a humorless laugh, "I had this whole life planned out for us—and you know I'm not one for making plans. But it's just like I needed a reminder of how bad I am at relationships; it seems like they're just not my thing." Though I have to admit it had never hurt this badly, because I had never loved before my Mitch.

"I wish...we had another time, another place. I wish I could follow the advice you gave Nate. I wish I could forget all the bad things and focus solely on the good ones. But we're not them, you know? It hasn't been a couple of hours; it's been three months. I think if we thought we had a chance at this, we would take it." I rubbed a hand to my eyes, exasperated. "Talk about screwed up, huh?"

I looked at her trying to put on a warm smile, because I knew the toll this must be taking on her good heart, but she was not even looking my way. She was chasing a loose thread of the carpet with the tip of her shoe, back and forth.

She didn't even look like she was listening to me.

"Mitchie, I'm sorry. For everything I have put you through: I am so sorry." Her foot stopped. Okay, she was listening. Was it a lot to ask that she nodded back or something? "I will never forgive myself for hurting you."

Still nothing.

"Mitchie, I feel like I'm talking to a damn wall here. Don't you have something to say?" It didn't come out as angry as I wanted it to. Instead it was low, calm, begging her to let me hear her voice.

This time she looked up at me and it was all I could do to not sigh and melt into the depth of her eyes.

"I love you." She said.

It took me a while to process the words. She had never said that to me before and it just seemed so off that she was telling me she _loved_ me now, right after I told her we could never work out.

I stared at her, dumbstruck, my mouth almost hanging open, and she flashed me a bright smile. Not sarcastic, or fake...she actually looked happy.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before, Shane, but I have loved you for a long time."

And just like that each and every single one of my walls came crashing down. None of the things I had said minutes before seemed to matter anymore. Not even the three months we had spent together mattered.

Nothing mattered. And at the same time everything started mattering again.

Because she loved me. She loved me _back_.

"Wow. This feels even better than hearing you say it." She placed a hand over her heart, like she was suddenly able to breathe. She looked into my eyes, smiling, "I love you, you know? I loved you when we were together and I loved you when we were apart. I will love you even if I walk out of here completely heartbroken. I will love you with every little piece." Mitchie giggled and I couldn't help but chuckle a little. "That was pretty cheesy, huh?"

I nodded at her, smiling.

"It's still true," She shrugged.

I felt so light-hearted. I felt like I would burst into a song and a happy dance any minute now. I was about to show her how much _I_ loved her when all of the sudden her smile became melancholic, her eyes welled up with tears.

"No, no, no, no. What happened to happy?" I walked to her and placed my hands lightly over her shoulders; my palms tingled at the touch. I searched her eyes, trying to see what was wrong. "What did I do? Let's go back to happy!"

"You...you're with Tess now and I know it's my own fault, being replaced," She started babbling, saying everything in one breath and I just couldn't believe my ears. Me? With that..._person_? Replacing my Mitchie? I shuddered at the mere thought.

"Mitchie no!" I said over her ranting, "Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"I...I heard you. You were going over to Tess's the other day..."

"I was going to Tess's...?" I was going to declare her crazy when suddenly realization sank in. I was going to have to explain that..."Oh, baby, it's not what you think." I wrapped my arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Mitchie slowly, hesitantly moved her hands to rest on my back, and then she was clutching to my shoulders, crying again. "Don't cry, Mitch. Please don't cry baby,"

"It seems like everything I do lately..." She muttered among sobs and laughs.

I closed my eyes and smiled, pressing her closer to me, and before I knew it tears were rolling down my face, too.

I was confused and I was scared, because I didn't understand anything of what was going on. I didn't know where we stood.

But somehow I knew everything was going to be okay. Maybe we were crying, but we were crying in each other's arms. Maybe we were lost, but we'd found our way together.

I loved her, and she loved me back.

* * *

**A.N. So this Mitchie/Shane-ness will continue next chapter which I promise to write soon. I pinky promise. I swear I wrote this a thousand different times before I realized it should be Shane's POV. And then I wrote it and a lovely hurricane decided to struck everything around me and I was out of internet for a loooong time. I will thank you more than ever for reading this after so long. **

**And thanks to Ceecile for giving the little push I needed with her review!**

**See you next chapter :)**

**xoxo **


	23. Yesterday's Now Today

Three months earlier, the day Mitchie visited Nate at Sunset Records - Shane's POV

I sat slumped down in the car seat, my hands clutching the steering wheel tightly, my chest heaving.

I was in actual physical pain. And Mitchie was right there, at the back entrance of Sunset Records, laughing at something Nate was saying. It wasn't funny, I could tell, because that wasn't her laugh, but she was still smiling, trying anyways for Nate's sake, because she was nice like that.

How I hated how nice she was.

And what was she doing here anyway? Was she going in or out? Had we been inside the building at the same time? Had she seen me and refused to say hello?

I hoped not. Not only because the idea of her not caring—of her ignoring me—all but killed me, but because then my hiding in my own car, in my own studio would be for nothing.

I was just trying to protect her. That's all I wanted.

Remembering the task at hand I threw on my sunglasses and the Dodgers cap I found in the backseat—yeah, like that would make me unrecognizable by my ex-girlfriend. I backed out of the parking lot, casting one last glance at her. And I almost lost it.

Suddenly-there Jason had her wrapped up in his arms, her head tucked under his chin as he stroked her hair. She rocked from side to side and I considered getting out of the car right then and there...until I heard desperate honking in front of my car.

I cursed as I pressed my foot to the brake. Brilliant me had tried to exit by the entrance and I was just about two hairs away from crashing my car. I backed up and directed my car to the exit, and with one last glance at Mitchie's and Jason's shocked faces, sped away.

I drove the familiar road to her house, pressing the gas over speed limit.

_Better get done with this shit. _

I almost crashed—once again—right into the entrance toll. I always hated this about coming here. Such a big deal for getting to a freaking house.

I rolled my window down and it took the guard a second to recognize me.

"To the Tyler's, right?" He asked me with a bored voice. I just cocked my eyebrow in response as he opened the gates for me. "I'll tell them you're on your way."

I huffed and muttered a thanks.

I passed all the flashy mansions, grimacing at the one I had moved out of months ago, and rounded a corner to finally get there.

The evil witch's cove.

Or at least that's what Jason used to call it.

I stomped my way along the stupid garden decorations and was about to pound on the front door when it swung open and her fake smiled appeared.

I considered launching my fist forward anyway.

"Shane! What a lovely surprise!" Tess stepped to the side, as if inviting me to come in, but I was so blinded by all the sequins and glitter on her that I took a step back.

"I warned you, Tess," I growled at her as her hand dropped from the door, her face pale.

My angry face must be really convincing.

"Shane?"

"I told you to stay the hell away from her!" She took a step back and my mind went all oh-no-you-didn't and I followed her inside, cornering her. "I told you, Tess, if you ever as much as looked her way again I would be a _freaking hurricane_ all over your stupid parade. But you didn't listen. You still sent your pathetic excuse of a boyfriend her way and broke her. You broke me," I breathed as I knew I had to keep my cool, but my voice carried all my anger and my hurt and delivered it right into her face, and I think for the first time ever Tess was actually scared, and listening.

"Shane, I,"

"I don't care about what you have to say." I smirked, taking a step back. "Now, _Mommy _T.J., on the other hand, will be all interested in what _I_ have to say,"

"Shane, please, don't," She clutched my forearm and I quickly yanked my hand away, turning on my heel.

"I warned you, Tess." I heard her take and sharp intake of breath and suddenly Mitchie's voice was all around my head, telling me right from wrong. Forcing me into being nice, making me _want_ to be nice, better. "_Dammit._" I muttered and turned back to Tess, looking right into her bloodshot eyes.

"This is the last time I tell you, Tess, and I'm dead serious. If you ever trying anything against Mitchie again, I will end you and all of your opportunities down at the Records. Mommy will know what kind daughter she's got, John will hear about your fixed voice on your demos, and your career will be over before it even started. Am I clear?"

She nodded her understanding as she looked at her ridiculous shoes.

I hated I was the reason she looked so scared and vulnerable, even if it was Tess, and I was suddenly in a hurry to get the hell out of there.

I made my way back to my car, stopping just as I remembered one last thing.

"Tell your boyfriend, though, he wasn't that lucky," Tess looked up questioningly, and this time, even though Mitchie frowned at me in my head, I really smiled. "If Trace De Luca ever bothers to come over to the studios again, security will take care of it. It's over for him."

"What did you do?" She asked quietly, I guess not wanting to risk confronting him.

I just shook my head and shrugged my shoulders, "I told you I had dirt on him. He hasn't been hanging out with the best of guys and I bumped into his dad and it just slipped out of me. You'd be doing well by staying away from him, Tess."

I threw myself into my car and stepped on the gas, leaving a dumbstruck Tess at the entrance of her own house.

I felt bad, but I just wanted to keep Mitchie safe. I'd do anything to protect her.

**Present - Mitchie's POV**

"Oh," Shane quirked one eyebrow at my stupid response to his story. He smiled and tentatively put his hand over mine. "Umm...wow." I continued with my eloquence, turning my hand around and lacing our fingers together.

After we had both dried ourselves crying in each other's arms we had moved to the love seat, lost and confused and me sniffing like I had caught a bad cold. We sat as far away as the tiny couch would allow as Shane launched into his story, not touching until this moment, until he was sure everything was fine.

From where I was seating, everything was more than fine.

"I can't believe you did that..." My voice was lower than I had expected as tears spilled from the corner of my eyes once again. I felt his lips brush against my cheekbone, kissing the traitors away.

"I'm serious, Mitch," His voice the ghost of a whisper over my skin, "I'd do anything."

I let out a shaky breath as his lips brushed against mine once, twice, three times. He never deepened the kiss, barely making enough contact to know this was real.

His free hand traced the contours of my face, as if he was touching me for the first time. It traveled against my cheekbones, my nose, my close eyelids, drew a line down my neck, followed my collarbone. He rested his forehead against mine and at times I could feel a hot gush of breath as he shook his head, and I knew what he was thinking.

I couldn't believe this either.

"Shane," He hummed in response, dropping my hand to to hold my back, pressing me closer to him. "What—what about before?"

My hand touched his forearm, my palm tingling at the movement of his muscles as it traveled.

"Before?"

"You know," For a minute I didn't know what I was talking about as his lips followed the trace of his hand down my neck, parting between my shoulder and my neck and pressing a wet kiss there. "Oh."

He smiled against my skin, and removed his lips to replace them with his nose, skimming it all along my shoulder.

I distinctly recalled my earlier train of thought and my eyes opened lazily.

I ran my hands through his perfect hair once before resting them on either side of his face. I brought him up to look at me.

His mouth was almost a pout as it left my skin.

"Before, when Trace said she cheated on him with...with you," I asked softly, tucking one strand of his long hair behind his ear. Was I the only one who told him when he needed a haircut?

He turned his head to kiss my wrist. "It's technically true," He backed to rest against the couch and took my hands again in his, turning and twisting them together. "Tess and Tyler _were_ already involved when I started dating her, but I didn't know. I liked her, you know? Or at least I thought I did. T.J. introduced us and I saw a pretty and outgoing girl who I thought would be nice to have under my arm for a while—sorry, that's how I thought back then—and she...well she saw a great way to get into the business, maybe bring her boyfriend along for the ride." He rolled his eyes and his grip on my hands tightened for a second. "God. They had me fooled for months."

"But Tess has her mom; I mean, she's been in the business for years,"

"Let's just say Tess's mom is not really a mom to her."

I studied his face for a minute. He actually looked like it had affected him. Even back then, by the look of his eyes, I could tell old, untouchable Shane Gray wasn't so untouchable.

I felt like a complete jerk.

"I'm so sorry, Shane,"

"Oh, no, please. They did me a favor when the idiots sucked face in one of my parties. I'm glad it ended with Tess." He smiled at our intertwined hands. "_So_ glad."

"I meant, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. Sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain that day,"

Shane shrugged and leaned in to kiss the top of my head.

"I'm sorry I didn't keep trying to explain. I should have tried. Every day, for the last three months,"

I didn't say anything back. I climbed to his lap and kissed his cheek sweetly.

He wrapped me in his arms and we fell further into the love seat, young and fixed and in love.

**

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A.N.: Hi, remember me? I won't bore y'all with long excuses and stuff. I hope everyone is doing well and had a great time during the holidays (and all the other things you did while Joe Jonas kept me captive in his home. (Okay, fine, he didn't do such thing)). I have missed this place! **

**An epilogue will follow this chapter and then it will be happily ever after the end! Or will it be...? **

**I'm kidding. I'd love it if you dropped a few words and said hi :) **


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